Characters / Middle-earth Film: The Fellowship

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A group of nine companions in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy that set out from Rivendell on the Quest of Mount Doom, to return the One Ring to the fire that created it and destroy the Dark Lord Sauron once and for all.

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In General

"Nine companions. So be it. You shall be the Fellowship of the Ring."

— Elrond

• Adaptational Attractiveness: Sean Astin was already stocky but gained some more weight for the role of Sam, while the rest of the Hobbits are portrayed by slender actors. In the books, Hobbits are generally portly and said to look friendly rather than handsome or beautiful, which cannot be said for the Fellowship Hobbits here.
• Beware the Nice Ones: All the Hobbits. Especially Sam.
• Determinator: They set out on a quest to do the impossible: Walk into Mordor and destroy the one thing that land's Evil Overlord wants to obtain above all else. Of the Nine Walkers, not a single one ever turns back from this goal, regardless of the seemingly insurmountable obstacles in their path.
• Fighter, Mage, Thief: The Legolas-Gimli-Aragorn trio is a subversion: Legolas is the Thief, because he's a skilled archer and an expert in acrobatics; Gimli is the Fighter, as he's a bulky axe-wielding tank; and Aragorn, despite having Healing Hands and being able to heal victims of the Nazgul, not only completely lacks the typical characteristics of a White Mage, but does very little healing and is much more well-known for fighting in the front lines, having traits of a balanced Fighter-Thief hybrid that uses Bow and Sword in Accord. The only actual Mage of the Fellowship is Gandalf, but even he rarely uses magic as a weapon.
• Fire-Forged Friends: Gimli and Legolas probably count as the Trope Codifiers. They openly hate each other at their first meeting (Gimli: "Never trust an elf!"), but by the end of Fellowship they are practically inseparable.
  Gimli: Never thought I'd die fighting side by side with an Elf.
  Legolas: What about side by side with a friend?
  Gimli: ...aye. (gives him a fond smile) I could do that.
• Four-Temperament Ensemble: The four main hobbits—Pippin (sanguine), Sam (phlegmatic), Frodo (leukine), and Merry (slightly choleric).
• Good Smoking, Evil Smoking: Just about any time they catch enough of a break to sit down, everyone except Legolas and Boromir bust out their pipes.
• Interspecies Friendship: The Fellowship is composed of four hobbits, two men, an elf, a dwarf, and a Maia. There was already a strong friendship between Aragorn (a human) and Legolas (an elf), and one would eventually develop between Legolas and Gimli (a dwarf). During the trip, Boromir is noticeably more protective of the Hobbits than their other companions, and even goes on to be a Cool Big Bro to Merry and Pippin.
• Let's Split Up, Gang!: Frodo and Sam separate from the rest of the Company so the Ring would not corrupt them like it did Boromir. Circumstances then split Merry and Pippin from Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli.
• Papa Wolf: All warriors—especially Aragorn and Gandalf—have become this toward the Hobbits, who are the youngest in the company and not very battle-experienced (at first).
• Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: Many of the members don't even know each other at first.
  • The Fellowship is composed of a Maia (who later dies but Came Back Strong), an elf and dwarf who start off despising each other, a man who is the son of the Ruling Steward of Gondor, another man who is actually the rightful heir to the throne of Gondor but turned his back on that path, and four hobbits who have never even ventured outside their idyllic countryside home.
  • Even among the four hobbits, you have a pair of troublemakers (Merry and Pippin), the nephew of the local oddball/former adventurer (Frodo), and the aformentioned nephew's gardener (Sam).
• The Team: The Fellowship was formed for the purpose of destroying the One Ring by going into the deepest parts of Mordor and casting it into the volcanic fires of Mount Doom, where it was originally forged. Gandalf carries millennia of wisdom underneath his foppish yet fashionable hat. While he occasionally comes off as the Grumpy Old Man, his insight and ability to see the big picture ultimately play a key role in the Fellowship’s success. Aragorn is the classic Reluctant Ruler; heir to a long and storied lineage but hesitant to take up that responsibility. While noted for his warrior skills, his true strength as a leader ultimately comes through in his willingness to always do right, no matter the cost. Legolas is Aragorn's most trusted confidant and the Master Archer to his sword wielder. While the two occasionally disagree, they both deeply believe in the Fellowship's mission and respect the knowledge and skills that each brings to the group. Gimli and Boromir are the Fellowship's powerhouses, wielding an array of battle axes and a heavy sword & shield combo, respectively. While not full-on Comic Relief, they can also bring lightness and humor to the group, especially when the situation seems dull or grim. As for the hobbits, while they initially lack combat experience, they eventually display a sort of Simple-Minded Wisdom that allows them to see how high the stakes and potential consequences truly are. Special mentions go to Sam and Frodo, who are not only the emotional pivots around which the Fellowship revolves, they are emotionally indispensable to each other. When the Fellowship splinters, they struggle but ultimately succeed in keeping each other safe and sane until the very end.
• Token Minority: Legolas is the only Elf and Gimli is the only Dwarf. Gandalf is the only Maia.
• True Companions:
  • It's pretty clear they've become this by the end of the trilogy. Frodo even refers to the Fellowship as 'eternally bound by friendship and love' at least in the films.
  • This extends to the actors playing them as well, as they grew close during filming. They even got matching tattoos which read 'nine' in Elvish, though John Rhys-Davies sent his scale double in his place.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: Gimli and Legolas are subject to this to a lesser extent at the end of The Return of the King. While the fates of the rest of the Fellowship are shown, they are left out of the epilogue. Perhaps due to its already considerable length, brief scenes of Gimli in the Glittering Caves and Legolas wandering the woods of Lorien were deleted.
  • In the books, it was written that they set sail for the Undying Lands together, with Gimli—thanks to his friendship with Legolas and Galadriel probably putting in a good word for him before they arrived—being the only Dwarf to set foot in Valinor in the entire history of Middle-earth.

Frodo

Frodo Baggins

"I wish the Ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened."

Species: Hobbit

Portrayed by: Elijah Wood

Voiced by: Enzo Fortuny (Latin American Spanish dub), Daisuke Namikawa (Japanese dub), Óscar Muñoz (Spanish dub), Alexandre Gillet (French dub)

Appears in: An Unexpected Journey | The Fellowship of the Ring | The Two Towers | The Return of the King

"I spent all my life pretending I was off somewhere else. Off with you, on one of your adventures. But my own adventure turned out to be quite different."

The protagonist of The Lord of the Rings. He was a hobbit of the Shire who inherited Sauron's Ring from his uncle (technically, cousin once removed) and adoptive father Bilbo Baggins and undertook the quest to destroy it in Mount Doom.

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• Accidental Hero: Ultimately he's trying to take the ring back from Gollum for himself, when he accidently causes Gollum and the ring to fall in the lava.
• Action Survivor: Due to Frodo's Adaptational Wimp, he ends up as this but despite not contributing to fighting as much as some of the other characters, he still fights back and manages to get through it unscathed.
• Adaptation Dye-Job: In some versions of the books, he is described to be blond as a way to distinguish him from the other Hobbits. Here, his hair almost borders on dark black while the blond hair was given to Merry and Sam.
• Adaptational Attractiveness: He's young with Pretty Boy looks (and being played by Elijah Wood doesn't hurt!); in the books, hobbits are more pleasant-looking than beautiful. Then again, Frodo is explicitly described as fairly good-looking for a hobbit, and Hobbits do age more slowly than humans.
• Adaptational Intelligence: When the hobbits get to the Inn of the Prancing Pony in the book, Frodo is encouraged by the other bar patrons to sing a song. He gets a little too into it, falls off the table and the ring "accidentally" slips on his finger, which enables the Nazgul to discover his location. The filmmakers decided this made Frodo look a little too careless, and made him take the idea to keep from drawing attention to himself seriously. Unfortunately Pippin doesn't get the message and starts blabbing about Frodo's real identity to strangers, then when Frodo tries to shut him up, he trips and the ring slips onto his finger.
• Adaptational Badass:
  • This Frodo is much more of a push-over compared to his book counterpart, but movie Frodo fights unarmed several times and succeeds.
  • Frodo plays a more active role in destroying the ring, in its final moment at the Crack of Doom in the movies than in the book. In the book, Gollum bites his finger off, takes the ring, cheers, and falls off the edge on his own. In the film, Frodo stands up, enraged, and struggles with Gollum, which sends them both over the edge, but Frodo manages to hold on to the edge (with one hand bleeding profusely no less).
• Adaptational Modesty: He loses his cloak and Mithril vest in the Tower of Cirith Ungol, leaving him shirtless. In the book, the Orcs stripped him completely naked. This explains Sam's line about how "you can't go walking through Mordor in naught but your skin", which is quoted verbatim from the book.
• Adaptational Wimp:
  • In the books, he gradually becomes a more passive character due to his damaging experiences with the One Ring and eventually swears never to wield a sword again, which means something, because his earlier feats include hacking the hand off a barrow-wight and stabbing a cave-troll in the foot. In the films, the most noticeable fight scene he contributes to is the fight in Moria, where he kills a few orcs and lands a few hits on the cave-troll by slicing it on the hand and arms at various points.
  • In reverse however, he does show his competence in other ways not seen in the books, like helping Gandalf solve the riddle to the Door of Moria, and rescuing Sam from drowning and later a mountain full of rocks before shielding Sam and himself from the Easterlings using his Elven cloak to appear as a huge rock. In the third film, right before he and Sam are about to be caught at a checkpoint in Mordor, he successfuly distracts the orcs by starting a fight so that the two of them can escape. He also didn't need to be carried after he and Sam escape from the erupting Mount Doom and was the one who serves drinks to the other Hobbits in the Green Dragon towards the end.
  • Averted in Cirith Ungol, Sam is about to give the Ring back to Frodo when he suddenly feels reluctant to hand it over. In the book, Frodo gets a burst of Ring-envy, calls Sam a "thief," and snatches the Ring back from him, and then apologises. In the film, Frodo sees clearly that Sam is tempted, and just quietly insists to Sam to give him the Ring, which Sam does.
  • Played straight when confronting the Ringwraiths at the fjord. Book Frodo rides alone on Asfaloth and makes a defiant stand at the fjord, declaring that they will get neither the ring nor him and drawing Sting, fully ready to face the Ringwraith. Film Frodo on the other end is mostly in a daze, barely councious due to his injury, and is carried to the fjord by Arwen. It's Arwen who gets to make a stand against the Ringwraiths.
• Age Lift: The Time Skip between Frodo receiving the Ring and Frodo leaving the Shire is left out, so presumably he's in his early 30s as opposed to 50 years old, as per the book.
• All Webbed Up: This happens to Frodo after he manages to escape from Shelob's lair.
• Badass Normal: Just like his uncle before him, Frodo's an ordinary hobbit who's thrust into extraordinary circumstances that end up changing his once-peaceful and boring life forever. Downplayed in that he never engages in any major fights outside of his confrontations with Gollum.
• Break the Cutie: Getting stabbed by the Witch-King curses Frodo with lifelong pain, which was considered the best-case scenario considering he would have become a wraith if not for the healing powers of the elves in Rivendell. The ring's Corrupting Influence also starts to take effect the closer he gets to Mordor and leaves him wracked with guilt when he starts alienating Sam. He does not get better until he leaves for the Undying Lands with Gandalf in hopes of finding a better life there.
• But Now I Must Go: Ultimately, unable to recover from the ordeal of his time as a Ringbearer, Frodo leaves Middle-earth alongside Gandalf and Bilbo to the Undying lands.
• The Chosen One: Frodo is THE Chosen One of the series. He inherited Sauron's Ring from Bilbo Baggins and is the one meant to destroy it in the fires of Mount Doom.
  Galadriel: This task was appointed to you, Frodo of the Shire. If you do not find a way, no one will...
• Classical Anti-Hero: He does have insecurities and issues to deal with, but he's always a kindhearted, noble and heroic young man at the end of the day.
• Cool Sword: Sting, an elven long knife that glows when orcs are nearby. It was given to him by Bilbo, who acquired it during his quest 60 years prior to reclaim the Lonely Mountain.
• The Corruption: One of the major themes of the story. Cut images from The Two Towers show what would have happened if he had kept the Ring, portraying his transformation into a creature similar to Gollum.
• Damsel out of Distress: Gender-inverted. When dealing with the Ring-crazed Boromir, he rescues himself by slipping on the Ring to become invisible and shoving Boromir away. In the film, he even gets in a couple of hits before he runs off.
• Deadpan Snarker: Not to the extent as Merry or Sam, but he can snark with the best of them when the mood takes him. More evident in the extended editions, though.
  Frodo: Don't worry, Sam. Rosie knows an idiot when she sees one.
• Determinator: Poor Frodo goes through absolute hell (with Sam at his side) to destroy the Ring and kick Sauron out of Middle-earth for good.
• Distressed Dude: Frodo gets attacked and captured more times than any other member of the Fellowship. Justified in that he's carrying the One Ring all their enemies are after.
• Dressing as the Enemy: He and Sam disguise themselves as orcs during the last leg of their journey.
• Driven to Suicide: The look we see in his eyes as he hangs over the edge, feeling all too tempted to give into despair. Thankfully, through Sam's loyalty and love, Frodo grabs his hand and subverts this trope.
• Early-Bird Cameo: In the flash-forward beginning of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.
• Failure Hero: Subverted. It seems he's going to be this once he falls victim to the Ring's corruption, but he ends up saving the day anyway albeit in an Accidental Hero sort of way.
• Fingore: Gets his finger chewed off by Gollum in a desperate attempt to get the One Ring.
• Freudian Trio: With Sam and Gollum; Frodo represents the Ego. He puts up as much resistance to the ring as he can, but he's not immune to its corruption.
• The Gadfly: He shoves Sam into Rosie's path at Bilbo's birthday after he chickens out of asking her to dance, then cackles like a maniac at the sight of them dancing.
• Geek Physiques: He's the most bookish of the Hobbits and has a slender physique.
• Good Is Not Soft: Despite his gentle, merciful personality, he threatens Gollum with Sting when the latter tries an ambush and almost chokes Sam to death.
  Frodo: Release him, or I'll cut your throat!
• Guile Hero: Frodo may not be an Action Hero like Aragorn, but he manages to make it to Mount Doom in large part due to his wits and avoiding straight up fights and confrontations. Case in point, when disguised as orcs and when their cover is about to be blown, Frodo instructs Sam to beat him up to cause a distraction and cause an uproar. He's also the one who solves the riddle in Moria and keeps Sam from being caught when falling down the hill.
• Happily Adopted: Frodo was adopted by his uncle Bilbo several years after his parents drowned in the Brandywine River. Uncle and nephew are shown to have a very close and loving relationship, with Bilbo doting on Frodo at every opportunity and then appointing him as his official heir to Bag End.
• Heroic BSoD: He goes silent after Gandalf falls fighting the Balrog in Moria.
• The Hero's Journey: Frodo sets off from the Shire to accomplish a mission given to him by Gandalf, and despite being given the option to head back home, he decides to keep going with the mission. He succeeds in his quest to get the One Ring to Mount Doom and though he succumbs to its corruption, he still destroys it albeit accidentally. Unfortunately, he can't recover from the physical and mental injuries he succumbed through his journey due to the Ring's influence and more, leading to him not being able to return to the Shire, as he ends up going with Gandalf to the Undying Lands as a reward. Thankfully, he seems to be content despite this trauma, given the smile he gives to his friends as he leaves.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Sam as they trekked to Mordor. It's implied that they've known each other for years.
• Hidden Depths: This applies to all the hobbits, but Frodo in particular is very well-educated thanks to his uncle's careful and extensive instruction on a wide range of subjects.
• Hitchhiker Heroes: He and Sam are this as they trek towards Mordor.
• I Just Want to Be Normal: Laments that he wished the Ring had never come to him at one point (before he's anywhere near his darkest hour), prompting Gandalf to respond that all who live to see such times wish this, and that all he has to do is decide what to do with the time that is given to him.
• Innocent Blue Eyes: He has huge, expressive, very blue eyes, which suggest the innocence and good-heartedness of him and hobbits in general (although his eyes aren't blue in the book). They also contrast against the gigantic fireball that is the Eye of Sauron.
• It Sucks to Be the Chosen One: Frodo is chosen to bear the One Ring, which unfortunately has a will of its own: it wants to go back to its true master and will corrupt anyone who possesses (or even gets near) it to advance its goal. This ends up being the reason why Frodo (almost) fails in his Quest, and has to leave Middle-earth in the end due to the psychological damage he has endured. This is not even going into the physical damage he takes during the quest.
• Interclass Friendship: Frodo is a gentlehobbit; Sam is his gardener. The two are still on good terms and become even closer over the course of the journey thanks to all the things they have to endure together.
• Interspecies Friendship: With Gandalf, who he is the closest to even when they're both part of the Fellowship and goes silent when Gandalf falls fighting the Balrog. They eventually sail out to the West together after everything is over.
• Kubrick Stare:
  • When the One Ring finally corrupts him and he claims it for himself, he stares at Sam for only an instant before putting the Ring on and vanishing.
  • He has an earlier one when the Nazgul terrorize Osgiliath, ominously murmuring "they're here".
• The Leader: Acts as this for the other Hobbits during the first half of The Fellowship of the Ring while on the run from the Ringwraiths. Since he's the one carrying the One Ring, it makes sense.
• Messianic Archetype: Though he differs from most in that he is flawed and fallible.
• Morality Pet: Has several as he falls into the Ring's influence. Sam is the most obvious one, but in the very beginning the other members of the Fellowship fell into this role as well. Interestingly enough, Gollum of all people becomes one for him, but for a more interesting reason: seeing what Gollum has become and believing that both he and himself could one day be saved from what the Ring has done to them spurs him to reject its influence at times.
• More Hero than Thou: He attempts to abandon all the rest so he doesn't drag them into danger, and almost succeeds entirely. He also refuses to let Sam carry the Ring, saying it would destroy him.
• My God, What Have I Done?: He has a couple moments of this: first when he is talked down by Sam after threatening him while under the Ring's influence; he has another one when he is betrayed by Gollum in Shelob's cave, and realizes his horrible mistake in sending Sam away. Finally, in Mount Doom, after he fails to destroy the Ring, instead knocking Gollum off the ledge by accident in the scuffle to possess it. The look he gives Sam makes it clear that he's deeply saddened by what he did.
• My Girl Back Home: Well, uncle. Bilbo stays behind in Rivendell to finish his tale while Frodo takes off for Mordor.
• Named Weapons: He uses an elven dagger named Sting.
• Nice Guy: His genuine kindness is what truly motivates him, and despite some shortcomings and insecurities, he ultimately remains noble and heroic.
• Nightmare Face:
  • He begins to channel scary expressions as the Ring starts digging its claws into him. Over the course of the second and third film, we see him gain tired, red bags under his eyes and his skin turn a deathly pale colour. During a fight with Sam, we see Frodo display a frenzied, almost feral, look in his eyes and begin to snarl in an all-too-familiar way...
  • The Psychotic Smirk that Frodo displays when he finally submits to the Ring. Similar to the flashback with Isildur in film one.
• Not Himself: He gets more angry and paranoid the longer he has the Ring.
• Older Than They Look: Despite being played by the youthful Elijah Wood (who was only 20 at the time), Frodo is actually 33. However, 33 Hobbit years is actually equivalent to a regular human's 21, so Wood wasn't too far off the mark.
• Parental Abandonment: His parents drowned in the Brandywine River. This gets a lot less attention than it does in the books, but elements of it remain.
• The Power of Friendship: Sam's loyalty is one of the few things that keeps Frodo going throughout the second and third film.
• Pretty Boy: He's young and beautiful (and played by Elijah Wood); in the books, hobbits are more pleasant-looking than beautiful.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The Blue to Sam's Red. This especially comes to play in regards to treating Gollum, who Frodo grows fond of and has gradually come to trust, as he sees in Gollum what he would eventually become if the Ring were to take hold. This act of mercy would become an important factor in fulfilling the Quest.
• Ring on a Necklace: As in the book, Frodo begins wearing the One Ring on a chain around his neck and tucked beneath his shirt part way through The Fellowship of the Ring, as carrying it around in his pocket isn't secure enough and he can't put it on for extended periods without alerting Sauron to its presence. As the Ring becomes heavier, the chain leaves some nasty-looking injuries around his neck.
• Sanity Slippage: He falls more into the One Ring's influence the closer he and Sam get to Mordor.
• Shipper on Deck: He's all for Sam/Rosie, to the point where he even forces Sam to dance with her during Bilbo's birthday party when Sam proves too shy to ask her to dance himself. Sam talking to her under his own willpower and later marrying her provokes some of the only smiles he gives after the quest.
• Shirtless Captives: He is shirtless during his capture in Cirith Ungol's tower before Sam rescues him and they both don orc armor to pass the army unharmed. Justified in that the orcs needed to deliver his Mithril vest to Sauron, who then sends his messenger to deliver the vest to the awaiting Fellowship at the Black Gate as proof that Frodo died from being tortured.
• The Smart Guy: He's the smartest of the Hobbits, and is the one who solves the riddle in Moria after Gandalf fails to succeed. In addition, when traveling with Sam, he comes up with a plan on the spot to prevent the orcs from catching them.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: To be fair, bearing the One Ring for a long time would do that to anyone. Just ask Gollum. He turns back to normal once the Ring is destroyed, but has severe psychological damage from the experience.
• Turn the Other Cheek: He's merciful towards Gollum/Sméagol in spite of his past threatening Bilbo and even after Gollum betrays him in Shelob's Lair.
• Unlikely Hero: It's partly why he succeeds in getting to Mount Doom as he's beneath Sauron's notice.
• You Can't Go Home Again: Frodo realizes at the end of his quest that he is irreversibly changed and ends up leaving Middle-earth forever as the result.

Sam

Samwise "Sam" Gamgee

"Hey! Mr. Frodo's not going anywhere without me!"

Species: Hobbit

Portrayed by: Sean Astin

Voiced by: Irwin Daayán (Latin American Spanish dub), Shingo Yatsuda (Japanese dub), David Jenner (Spanish dub), Christophe Lemoine (French dub)

Appears in: The Fellowship of the Ring | The Two Towers | The Return of the King

"I made a promise, Mr Frodo. A promise. 'Don't you leave him Samwise Gamgee.' And I don't mean to. I don't mean to."

Frodo's loyal servant and gardener, who was determined to follow his master wherever he went, even when he was not invited. Sam proved to be a brave and loyal companion and became Frodo's closest friend. His Hobbit-sense and his love for Frodo saw them both through danger and hardship to the end of the quest. Even when things seemed bleakest, Sam refused to give up hope, both because of his natural optimism and desire to ease the burdens Frodo carried, especially as they got closer to Mount Doom.

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• Acrofatic: He may be on the pudgy side (even Gollum calls him a 'fat Hobbit'), but he can keep up with the others because he's a Hobbit.
• Act of True Love: The entirety of the trilogy is one of these for Samwise. He followed Frodo into Mordor, being his keeper for the whole trip.
• Adaptational Badass: Downplayed, but still there. While most of his feats are from the books, this version of Sam finds his badass side earlier and more naturally—a fact he even comments on himself in Moria. In contrast, his book self is more timid and it takes more time and circumstances for him to become active in fighting.
• Adaptation Dye-Job: Along with Merry, he is fairly blond in the films, whereas in the books blond Hobbits are a rarity and Sam himself is explicitly mentioned to have brown hair.
• And This Is for...: He, the normally non-threatening gardener, does this, dedicating Orc kills to those important to him: "This is for Mr. Frodo!" (stab) "And this is for the Shire!" (slice) "And this is for my old Gaffer!" (thrust)
• Audience Surrogate: Along with the other hobbits.
• Babies Ever After: He's seen having married Rosie Cotton in he epilogue's final scene, and having two children. In the books, Sam would have 13 children.
• Badass Normal: An ordinary guy who wants nothing more than to take care of his garden back in Hobbiton, Sam goes on to save Frodo countless times, takes out quite a few orcs, and drives off Shelob all by himself with nothing more than a Cool Sword and the Light of Earendil.
• Battle Butler: For Frodo. Don't harm him while Sam is around.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Gardener? Check. Loving father and husband? Check. Terrifying opponent to anyone or anything that threatens his beloved master? Big check.
• Big Shadow, Little Creature: He tries to scare a squad of Orc warriors this way. Unlike in the book, it doesn't really work. Also unlike the book, he kills them all easily.
• Bittersweet Ending: Though Frodo has left him, Sam gets to raise a family with Rosie.
• Bookends: Samwise is the first member of the Fellowship to appear in the extended cut of The Fellowship of the Ring and the last member to appear in The Return of the King.
• Breakout Character: Sam is beloved by fans, and is one of the most loved characters in the entire series, due in no small part to his absolute Undying Loyalty towards Frodo, showing next to no sings of temptation from the One Ring, and the several badass feats he accomplishes across the story despite being nothing more than a gardener.
• Caring Gardener: A shot of Sam tending a plant appears over Gandalf's narration that hobbits are fond of growing things. He's an almost-unmitigated Nice Guy (Sméagol/Gollum is an exception) and his care and concern are some of the most major factors that let Frodo bear the Ring long enough to reach Mount Doom.
• The Cassandra: The fact that Frodo becomes sympathetic towards Sméagol doesn't help, either.
• The Champion: While it's frequently spoken of how Sam is The Hero, he fits this in actuality more specifically because of his role being to help Frodo specifically. It's highly likely Sam wouldn't have even been a part of the Fellowship if not for Frodo electing to take the Ring. In short, where Frodo goes, Sam follows.
• Cool Sword: When he wields Sting in Frodo's defense.
• Cowardly Lion: Sam begins the story a timid soul, being unable to speak to his crush, Rosie, cowing immediately under Gandalf's anger, and acting unnerved at how far from the Shire he will have to travel. Despite all of that, he never backs down from a threat, no matter how overpowering it is, whether it be goblins, trolls, a sword-wielding Aragorn, the Nazgul, or even freaking Shelob.
• Deadpan Snarker: He's usually rather polite and mild-mannered, but when he gets angry, annoyed, or impatient with someone, he displays a surprising creativity in thinking up biting comments. Unsurprisingly, he's at his snarkiest when dealing with Gollum.
• Determinator: He's Frodo's only companion to stay with him clear from the Shire to Mt. Doom, in spite of being turned away by Frodo multiple times, and in spite of Frodo and the others twice secretly conspiring with regards to the journey without Sam or the other hobbits. He also saves Frodo from an Eldritch Abomination and a horde of orcs, then carries him partway up Mt Doom on his own back. The reason for this? Because Gandalf made him swear never to leave Frodo, and it's definitely a promise he intends to carry out.
  "Then let us be rid of it. Come on, Mr. Frodo. I can't carry it for you, but I can carry you!"
• Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Did a hobbit just kick the crap out of a Giant Spider? Oh, yes.
• Distressed Dude: Finds himself in trouble twice and has to be rescued by Frodo in both instances, first from drowning then from the Easterlings after he fell off the peak among the rocks.
• Dressing as the Enemy: He and Frodo disguise themselves as orcs during the last leg of their journey.
• Dual Wielding: A few times. In Moria, he wields a sword and a frying pan at the same time in at least one shot (shortly after Frodo is nearly skewered by the cave troll). He also dual-wields his regular sword and Sting when storming the tower of Cirith Ungol.
• Freudian Trio: With Frodo and Gollum; represents the Superego.
• Frying Pan of Doom: Sam uses his cooking gear to whack some goblins in Moria.
• Happily Married: At the very end with his longtime crush, Rosie, alluded to a few times early on.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Frodo as they trekked to Mordor. It's implied that they've known each other for years, but he still calls him "Mr. Frodo" out of respect, due to the latter being a gentle-hobbit.
• Hot-Blooded: He definitely has moments of this.
• Humble Hero: Towards the end of the second film, Sam idly wonders whether their journey will ever be put into stories or songs, specifically Frodo's part in the War of the Ring. Frodo then remarks that he has left out one of the chief characters, that being himself. Judging from Sam's reaction, he clearly wasn't expecting such high praise, and from his best friend at that.
• Ignorant of the Call: As stated above, Sam doesn't consider himself any sort of hero at all, despite the fact that he performs heroic actions as easily as regular people breathe. The only time he comes close to acknowledging that he's a hero is when, during the fight in Balin's Tomb, he kills a goblin with a frying pan and says, "I think I might be getting the hang of this." Apparently, Tolkien himself considered Sam more of a hero than Frodo.
• Jerkass to One: Sam hates Gollum. It's kind of part of his natural tendency to be aggressive towards anyone he thinks wishes Frodo harm, but compared to the book he's unrelentingly hostile towards Gollum all the way through. In the book, Sam was never shy about letting Gollum know how much he disliked and distrusted him, but he did try to be civil. In the movies he doesn't even try.
• I Just Want to Be Normal: All he wants to do is to go back home and be with his friends.
• Incorruptible Pure Pureness: Given the change in Faramir's character, in the movies Sam is just about the only character in the story who the Ring cannot tempt. It should be noted that when he saves Frodo from Cirith Ungol, he has a very brief moment of temptation (lured on by wanting to lesser Frodo's burden), but it only lasted for a few seconds and he gave the Ring back to Frodo with minimal prompting.
• Jumped at the Call: Indeed, Gandalf gave him the call, seeing how eager he was.
• Kick the Dog: Sam is rude to Smeagol and calls him names (which causes Frodo to call him out on it) even when Smeagol, and not Gollum, was just being innocent or childish. Even if his reason is that Smeagol is beyond saving and he turns out to be right when the Golllum persona completely overtakes Smeagol, it still doesn't excuse his harsh treatment of poor Smeagol. This starkly contrasts with Frodo, who is nothing but downright polite to Smeagol. Hell, even Bilbo and Gandalf took pity on Gollum.
• The Lancer: To Frodo. Not only that but he's also his literal and emotional support. While the influence of the One Ring gradually eats away at Frodo’s life force and mental state, Sam remains steadfastly devoted to his friend until the very end and his moral compass never wavers - even if his views (especially on Gollum) are a bit black-and-white at times.
• My Girl Back Home: Rosie Cotton, who Sam brings up in the last film after they destroy the Ring. As Mount Doom erupts all around them, Sam tearfully describes her dancing and his wish to marry her. He eventually did.
• Nice Guy: He's an amazing friend and is always supportive, kind and loyal.
• The Power of Friendship: He uses this time and again to see Frodo's journey through.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The Red to Frodo's Blue. He's more inclined to attack anyone who dares hurt his Mr. Frodo, including Gollum who he views as more of a hindrance than an actual guide. They even have some snarking contests.
• Roaring Rampage of Rescue: When he ventures into the tower of Cirith Ungol to rescue Frodo.
• Sidekick: Ascended to hero.
• Simpleminded Wisdom: Sam is protected by the power of just a little hobbit common-sense.
• Socially Awkward Hero: Despite his bravery in the face of danger, he's too shy to ask out Rosie and Frodo at one point has to literally push him to dance with her during Bilbo's birthday party. By the end of the third film, however, he marries her.
• Supreme Chef: All hobbits can cook, and they're such gourmands one imagines that most hobbits are good cooks, but Sam is a good cook even by hobbit-reckoning. In fact, he's able to whip up a good meal with just a brace of coneys (that is, a couple of rabbits) and herbs of Ithilien.
• Team Chef: He is seen cooking for the Fellowship once before Saruman's crebain fly in to look for them.
• Tender Tears: More prominent than in the books.
• Took a Level in Badass: Went from a timid gardener who had never wandered further than a few miles from home to maiming giant spiders and beating orcs in a fight. Lampshaded when he's beating up goblins with a frying pan in Moria, about halfway between the two: "I think I'm getting the hang of this!"
• Undying Loyalty: Sam almost defines this trope, even when the Ring starts taking hold of Frodo.
• Working-Class Hero: Out of the four main hobbits, two are the sons of chieftains (Merry and Pippin) and the other is a very wealthy heir (Frodo); Sam is the only one who is not a "gentlehobbit."

Merry

Meriadoc "Merry" Brandybuck

"We're under orders from Treebeard, who has taken over management of Isengard."

Species: Hobbit

Portrayed by: Dominic Monaghan

Voiced by: José Gilberto Vilchis (Latin American Spanish dub), Manabu Muraji (Japanese dub), Aleix Estadella (Spanish dub), Vincent Ropion (French dub)

Appears in: The Fellowship of the Ring | The Two Towers | The Return of the King

"But you're part of this world, aren't you?... You must help... please."

A sensible yet adventurous Hobbit whose concern for his cousin Frodo led him to mastermind the "conspiracy" that ensured that Frodo embarked on his quest with his friends at his side. Despite his feelings of uselessness and self-doubt, Merry becomes a Knight of the Riddermark and plays a significant role in the War of the Ring. Through his loyalty and courage, he helped defeat one of the Dark Lord's most terrible servants, the Witch-King.

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• Adaptation Dye-Job: Along with Sam, he is fairly blond in the films, whereas in the books blond Hobbits are a rarity. Though given that his family has Fallohidish blood in them, this could be justified.
• Adaptational Badass: In the books, Merry's primary help in defeating of the Witch-King is due to a magical Elven dagger he gets after being rescued from the Barrow-Downs, one designed specifically to kill or injure the Witch-King. The movies don't include the whole Barrow sequence, which means Merry doesn't get the sword... which means he gets to damage the Witch-King simply because he's a hobbit and not of the race of Men. The Witch-King's contact "poisoning" also doesn't take place, so he also holds out a little longer in the fight itself rather than just the one plunge, with him and Éowyn tag-teaming for a few seconds before the Witch-King explodes and that is what nearly knocks him out.
• Adaptational Comic Relief: He and Pippin are given funnier moments, such as getting into Gandalf's fireworks and setting them off.
• Adaptation Personality Change: In the books, he was a more serious character. Here, while he is the more serious between himself and Pippin and grows more serious as the dangers increase, he is also more carefree and comical.
• Adaptational Wimp: With the scourging of the Shire cut out, we never get to see Merry co-lead an army of hobbits alongside Pippin to free the Shire. Merry rallies 200 Hobbits from his native Buckland, who join 100 Hobbits gathered by Pippin from Tookland, and local Hobbitton hobbits, and drive out Saruman's ruffians.
• Badass Normal: Merry, just a normal hobbit, is the one who defeats the Witch-King alongside Éowyn, out of all the trained soldiers, Proud Warrior Race Guys, and other larger-than-life figures present at the Battle.
• Big Brother Instinct: Displays this in the Extended Edition of Return of the King, worrying about Pippin as the two are separated. Merry berates Pippin for his curiosity, gives him his half of the pipe weed because he knows Pippin smoke all of his, and is clearly overtaken with worries when Gandalf leaves with Pippin for Minas Tirith. He remarks to Aragorn that he and Pippin have always been together, ever since they were kids, and he showed Pippin all he knows, and kept him safe, and now worries about being unable to protect him. Ironically after the Battle of the Pelennor fields, it's Pippin who finds an unconscious Merry and saves him.
• Broke Your Arm Punching Out Cthulhu: He, along with Éowyn (who also literally breaks her arm), nearly dies from contact with the Witch-King after killing him.
• Color-Coded for Your Convenience: Merry wears a yellow vest mainly to distinguish himself from Pippin, as most of the time people can't tell them apart.
• Damsel out of Distress: When the Rohirrim attack the Uruk-hai who have captured them, Merry sees that as an opportunity for them to escape their captors and into the forest.
• Deadpan Snarker: He's the snarkiest out of the four Hobbits, with a biting comment for almost every occasion. One such instance is wishing Pippin luck on finding dead rats among the wreckage of Isengard when Pippin complains he's grown hungry from all the chaos. And then there's this exchange:
  Pippin: You need people of intelligence on this sort of mission... quest... thing.
  Merry: Well, that rules you out, Pip.
• Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: The Witch-King of Angmar vs a Hobbit. Merry (teamed up with Éowyn) won.
• Distressed Dude: Alongside Pippin when they are cornered by Saruman's Uruk-hai and Boromir has to rescue them, though he dies attempting to do so and they are taken by the Uruks soon after. However, they later escape on their own after the Rohirrim—who launch an attack on the party—proves to be enough of a distraction for the orcs.
• The Fool: Together with Pippin; their personalities are less distinct in the movies.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: He has been this with Pippin since childhood. Merry himself states that he was always the one to get both of them in trouble, but also the one to pull Pippin out.
• I Just Want to Be Badass: When the battle lines are forming, he is dismissed as being unable to fight. But when it goes down, he's the first to march into an army.
• Improbable Aiming Skills: Like all hobbits, he makes stone-throwing a lethal art. He headshots orcs from miles away and kills all of them with nothing but rocks, all from atop Treebeard.
• Intergenerational Friendship: With King Théoden and Éowyn.
• Interspecies Friendship: Also counts as this. He and Pippin also have this with Treebeard and the other members of the Fellowship.
• Jumped at the Call: He and Pippin share their willingness to protect Frodo.
• Kubrick Stare: When he's yelling at the Ents for refusing to fight, though it's actually incidental due to him having to look up at them.
• The McCoy: When convincing the Ents to fight.
• Platonic Life-Partners: With Éowyn, when they both joined the Battle of the Pelennor Fields.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The Blue to Pippin's Red, being more of the planner. In reverse, however, it is he who ends up joining the war-like Rohirrim army as opposed to Pippin's placement among the more-civilized Gondor. He's also more vocal on convincing the Ents to take a stand against Saruman.
• The Smart Guy: Of the Hobbit foursome. He at least knows his way around more than the other three, which takes them as far as Bree. He's also the one who initiates his and Pippin's escape from their Uruk captors, and tries to convince the Ents to take up arms against Isengard.
• The Straight Man: When he and Pippin are left alone, Merry is shown to be very capable and sensible, even wise, at times.
• Those Two Guys: With Pippin.
• Took a Level in Badass: The first film showed him as a troublemaker and general nuisance. The third had him facing down the armies of Mordor—and the Witch-King of Angmar—without the slightest hesitation or fear.
• Trickster Archetype: With Pippin, especially since Merry is the one who starts trouble.

Pippin

Peregrin "Pippin" Took

"Anyways, you need people of intelligence on this sort of... mission... quest... thing."

Species: Hobbit

Portrayed by: Billy Boyd

Voiced by: José Joel (Latin American Spanish dub), Masataka Iizumi (Japanese dub), Hernán Fernández (Spanish dub), Pierre Tessier (French dub)

Appears in: The Fellowship of the Ring | The Two Towers | The Return of the King

"What about elevenses? Luncheon? Afternoon tea? Dinner? Supper? He knows about them, doesn't he?"

A silly and reckless Hobbit who insisted on accompanying his cousin Frodo on his quest to destroy the One Ring. Pippin's youth and curious nature gets him into trouble on occasion, but his steadfast friendship and unquenchable cheerfulness helps carry him and his companions through the darkest times. During the quest, he is forced to mature rather quickly and becomes an important member of the Fellowship, a member of Gondor's elite Citadel Guard, and later made a Knight of Gondor by Aragorn.

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• Adaptational Comic Relief: While Pippin was most definitely the Plucky Comic Relief of the book, it's played up even further here. He and Merry are given funnier moments, such as getting into Gandalf's fireworks and setting them off.
• Adaptational Dumbass: At first. In the book, Pippin wasn't stupid so much as he had a tendency to be thoughtless and overly curious. Here, he can be downright dense, especially in the first half of the story. Later on, though, he wises up considerably to the point of successfully pulling off a Batman Gambit and even later, when separated from Merry he grows more serious and capable. All in all he ends the movie trilogy pretty much in the same place as his book counterpart did — he just took a little longer to get there.
• Adaptational Heroism: A bit. The difference is more noticeable during the scene in Balin's Tomb between the books and the films. Whereas in the books Pippin intentionally throws a rock in the well just to see what would happen, the films portrays Pippin's foolishness more innocently by trying to grab an arrow from a Dwarf's corpse which then causes it to fall down.
• Adaptational Wimp:
  • Kind of. In the book, Pippin forms a friendship with Beregrond, first captain of the White Company of Gondor, and during the Battle of the Morannon saves Beregrond's life by slaying a troll. Since Beregrond has been Adapted Out, this moment does not happen in this version — though neither does Pippin's Disney Death moment where he's almost crushed to death under the troll's body for his trouble and is saved by Gimli. In the movie he's never so much as injured.
  • With the scourging of the Shire cut from the film, the audience never gets to see Pippin, having fully grown into a Knight of Gondor, organizing a battalion of 100 Hobbits from Tookland, which he leads in battle alongside of Merry against Sharkey's men.
• The Atoner: During his time in Minas Tirith, after he offers his services to Denethor as repayment for Boromir's sacrifice. Clearly the Palantír has affected him so greatly that he's no longer as foolish as he was before.
• Batman Gambit: He tells Treebeard to take him back towards Isengard, giving a rather pithy reason as to why, and while Treebeard seems confused, he agrees to it. Pippin's real reason for doing this is so that Treebeard can see what Saruman has done to Fangorn firsthand and trigger his Berserk Button. Merry has a look of amazement on his face when he realizes it and sees the Ent army emerge from the forest.
• Big Eater: Even more than most Hobbits are. See his quote above. There's also a scene in the Extended Edition of The Fellowship of the Ring where Legolas comments that a single bite of lembas bread would fill a grown man's stomach for a day's journey while eating some. When Merry asks how many Pippin ate, he quietly answers "four", leaving it ambiguous if he meant "four bites" or "four loaves".
• Brave Scot: He's the only Hobbit in the Fellowship with a Scottish accent (to achieve greater comic timing), and he's willing to fight when he has to. Just ask that Orc he stabbed In the Back at Minas Tirith. Peter Jackson justifies his accent by pointing out that his father is the Thain and one of his ancestors invented golf.
• Break the Cutie: He suffered heavily from looking into the Palantír, for starters.
• Brilliant, but Lazy: Pippin is a man of leisure and pleasure, with Merry even saying in gest that he's never done a hard day's work. But he is surprisingly crafty when he needs to be, coming up with a plan on the fly to lead the Ent's against Saruman and stop his creation of orcs, playing a crucial role in Sauron's later defeat.
• Buffy Speak: During the creation of the Fellowship: "You need people of intelligence in this sort of mission... quest... thing."
• Constantly Curious: He tries grabbing an arrow from a dwarf's still-armored corpse, which causes it to fall down a well and alert every goblin in Moria to their presence. He also looks into the Palantír just to see it once.
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: While not the most intelligent member of the cast, at times Pippin can be one of the bravest, alternating with ideas that are almost stupid. Case in point: messing with the corpse in Balin's Tomb that alerts the goblins to their position, only to come out as one of the fiercest hobbit fighters in the battle sequence that follows.
  • Then there's the whole sequence in The Two Towers when the Hobbits escape their capture by the Uruk-Hai, flee into the forest, and convince Treebeard to destroy Orthanc. The one who manages to mastermind the whole thing? Pippin, who bites off his broach to leave as a sign for Aragorn in pursuit, cuts his ropes on a discarded pike when the group stops for the night, frees Merry, and provides the Insane Troll Logic with the intent of causing Treebeard to head to see Saruman's destruction of the forest.
• Damsel out of Distress: He has the brilliant idea of biting off their cloaks' brooch in order to leave behind a marker for Aragorn and company to trace.
• Distressed Dude: Aside from being captured by the Uruk-hai alongside Merry, Pippin finds himself in need of Gandalf's rescue when Denethor attacks him for interfering with his offspring murder/suicide. In truth, Pippin was trying to save Faramir's life, who's even more in distress.
• Fire-Forged Friends: With Gandalf, who didn't seem to like him very much until their siege of Minas Tirith when they saved Faramir's life.
• The Fool: Being the youngest and most impressionable of the bunch, he's more prone to foolishness than his companions. According to Gandalf, he is a "Fool of a Took!"
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: He has been this with Merry since childhood.
• Iconic Item: Pippin's grey-green scarf.
• Idle Rich: As Merry points out, he's never done a day's work in his life.
• Interspecies Friendship / Odd Friendship: He and Merry have this with Treebeard and Boromir. Once he's brought to Gondor, he befriends Faramir quite easily as well.
• Improbable Aiming Skills: Like all hobbits, his aim with stones is downright lethal. He helps the Ents take Isengard by headshotting orcs with stones from miles away, hitting every one and taking all of them down.
• Jumped at the Call: He and Pippin share their willingness to protect Frodo.
• Manchild: He is the youngest of the Fellowship, after all.
• Mind Rape: Suffers one from looking at the Palantír when Sauron comes into the picture.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Pippin's curiosity has him attempting to pull an arrow from a Dwarf corpse, causing it to fall—rather noisily, at that—down a well. This leads to the Company being attacked by Goblins and a cave troll, and Gandalf's death.
• Plucky Comic Relief: His humor is the one thing that keeps himself and his friends going.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The Red to Merry's Blue, being the more impulsive of the two. The roles are switched as Pippin ends up in Gondor and becomes a guard under Denethor's service.
• Screams Like a Little Girl: In the first film, Merry and Pippin steal Gandalf's best firework and light it prematurely — while inside a tent. When it actually goes off, Pip lets out the girliest scream you can imagine. Billy Boyd didn't know that the thing was actually going to explode, so the scream is genuine.
• Those Two Guys: With Merry.
• Took a Level in Badass: From foolish young Took to Troll-slayer. Although his troll-slaying doesn't actually appear in the film, he has to make do with uber-orc slaying. Not to mention, he's the main reason why the Beacons of Amon Din are lit in the first place, therefore signaling to Rohan that Gondor is in dire need of help.
• Trickster Archetype: An innocent version, with Merry, though this toned down as they make their transition to badasses.

Gandalf

Gandalf the Grey/Gandalf the White

"A wizard is never late, Frodo Baggins. Nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to."

^{Click here to see him as Gandalf the White}
"I am Gandalf the White. And I come back to you now, at the turn of the tide."

Species: Maia

Portrayed by: Ian McKellen

Voiced by: José Lavat (Latin American Spanish dub), Hiroshi Arikawa (Japanese dub, 2002-2014), Michio Hazama (Japanese dub, The Battle of the Five Armies), Pepe Mediavilla (Spanish dub), Jean Piat (French dub)

Appears in: An Unexpected Journey | The Desolation of Smaug | The Battle of the Five Armies | The Fellowship of the Ring | The Two Towers | The Return of the King

"You cannot pass. I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the flame of Anor. The dark fire will not avail you, flame of Udûn! Go back to the shadow! YOU! SHALL NOT! PASS!"

A wizard who assisted both Bilbo and Frodo Baggins in their quests across Middle-earth. Gandalf is a member of the Istari, a group of Maiar that were specially chosen by the Valar to aid the Free Peoples of Middle-earth in the fight against evil. The Istari, who are often called wizards by various races, take the form of elderly but hale Men, but possess much greater physical, mental, and magical power (though the Valar prevent them from confronting Sauron with the full force of their power). For over 2,000 years, Gandalf worked faithfully against the rising powers of evil in Middle-earth.

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• Actually Pretty Funny: Despite him promptly putting the two Hobbits to work cleaning the dishes as punishment for it, Gandalf's slight smile and stern but otherwise gentle tone when he busts Pippin and Merry for spectacularly setting off his dragon firework at Bilbo's birthday party — and then immediately trying to find another — indicates that he was more amused by them doing so than he lets on.
  Gandalf: (tweaks the ash-covered Hobbits by an ear) Meriadoc Brandibuck and Peregrin Took. I might've known!
• Adaptational Badass: In a very minor way. The Gandalf from the film has the ability to call the Eagles to his help, which his book self notably lacks. All the situations in which he saves the day by doing so in the films are actually fortuitous or independent interventions by Radagast or the Eagles themselves in the books. In unrelated topics, he also seems to have some measure of Offscreen Teleportation here, as seen in Bag End.
• Adaptational Nice Guy: In the book, Gandalf's Grumpy Old Man nature was played up a lot more. While his movie incarnation is still a rather grouchy and impatient Deadpan Snarker, his kinder and gentler side is a lot more prominent. He also seems to have a soft spot for children, as he at the beginning of the first movie indulges the cheering hobbit children by giving them a small sample display of his fireworks; something which his book counterpart notably refused to do.
• Adaptational Wimp:
  • While still badass, he's less assertive than his book counterpart and his leadership is also less firm and more delegative, sometimes dubitative. In the film, The Witch-king surprises Gandalf in upper Minas Tirith, shatters the wizard's staff and knocks him off Shadowfax, and was suggested to have had the upper hand before flying off after the arrival of the Rohirrim, whereas in the books Gandalf is expecting the Nazgûl, holds his ground at the breached doors, and while they don't fight, he is clearly ready for the challenge. Actually, the power gap between the two goes in the opposite direction and is rather vast; Gandalf is second only to Sauron, a Maia (essentially a demi-god) prone to Badass Boasts who killed another incredibly strong Maia (the Balrog of Moria) in his weaker form, while the Witch-king is just a Black Numenorean wraith (a corrupted Man) with a Ring, and who was fended off at Weathertop by Gandalf the Grey in a clash where several other Nazgûl were also present. Even then, it would have taken all the Nine together to have seriously threatened him at that time. This is significant because it was Gandalf the White he was facing at Minas Tirith, reembodied with even more power. Additionally, Gandalf also carries Narya, one of the Three, each of which are greater than the Nine wielded by the Nazgûl.
  • Peter Jackson voiced repeatedly a dislike of wizards slinging fireballs and lightning, preferring magic to be displayed more subtly and rarely in an overt fashion. This leads to Gandalf for the most part only ever fighting with sword and staff. In the books, Gandalf made more use of magic in combat, throwing the occasional fireball or lightning bolt against groups of enemies in both Moria and in the Misty Mountains during The Hobbit.
• Badass Boast: "I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the flame of Anor. The dark fire will not avail you, flame of Udûn! Go back to the shadow... YOU SHALL NOT PASS!"
• Badass Bookworm: Even being of the lesser Maiar, he was one of the wisest.
• Badass in Distress: He's one of the powerful wizards who finds himself in sticky situations twice, and in most of the two film trilogies (especially The Hobbit) he usually does the rescuing.
• Baritone of Strength: As a Maia, he's one of the most powerful beings in Middle-earth, and he acquits himself very well in combat. Ian McKellen portrays him with a fittingly deep, melodious voice.
• Bearer of Bad News: Wormtongue names him 'Láthspell'; "ill news is an ill guest." Gandalf also gets the name "Stormcrow," for the same reason.
• Beware the Nice Ones: While Gandalf is mostly a gentle, polite, and calm individual who doesn't mind using his powers for trivial things (e.g. setting off fireworks to make Hobbit children happy), he is definitely the farthest thing from a pushover.
  • In Fellowship of the Ring, after Bilbo has a sudden change of heart about passing the One Ring on to Frodo, Gandalf—still unaware of the Ring's true owner but knows deep down that it is dangerous—doesn't hesitate to raise his voice angrily, making the lights dim and his shadow grow intimidatingly in order to calm down Bilbo's immature outburst, making the later step away in fear, huddled against the wall, therefore making him submissive and helping him honor his promise to leave the Ring behind for good. After this, Gandalf mellows out quickly enough, and even gives his old friend two last hugs before Bilbo leaves for Rivendell.
• Big Good: Gandalf is the main "power behind the scenes." Throughout The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, he is the one manipulating and directing events to help people resist Sauron, and makes sure—as much as he can—that they have the information and allies they need.
• Broke Your Arm Punching Out Cthulhu: He dies from the Balrog ordeal. (Don't worry, he gets better.)
• Brought Down to Badass: In terms of film-to-book comparisons. Gandalf doesn't sling as much magic as he does in the books (which is honestly still very infrequently outside of The Hobbit), but thanks to Glamdring and frequently using his staff as a secondary weapon, he remains one of the fiercest fighters in... about any action sequence he's in, often only second behind Aragorn. And then he comes back as Gandalf the White and gets even stronger.
• But Now I Must Go: In The Hobbit, as well as the Fellowship of the Ring.
• Came Back Strong: After fighting the Balrog and dying, he returns as Gandalf the White, the head of his Order.
• Came Back Wrong: It's only momentarily noted, but Gandalf's not quite his usual self when Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli meet up with him, taking a moment to remember he's called Gandalf.
• The Charmer: Rather surprisingly, he has shades of this in An Unexpected Journey with the Lady Galadriel. He certainly knows how to make her smile!
  "Age may have changed me, but not so the Lady of Lórien."
• The Chessmaster: He has been playing chess with Sauron over Middle-earth for centuries.
• Cool Horse: Shadowfax, said to be the fastest and most beautiful horse in the world.
• Cool Old Guy: To the hobbits, before they learn of his Hidden Depths.
• Cool Sword: Glamdring, which he found during The Hobbit.
• Crucified Hero Shot: A lot. First when Saruman telekinetically pins him to a wall; later when he falls into the abyss in Moria; and also in The Hobbit again when he confronts the Necromancer in Dol Guldur.
• Damsel out of Distress: While he is held captive by Saruman in The Fellowship of the Ring, he calls an eagle to help him escape from Isengard.
• Deadly Nosebleed: After his fight with the Balrog, his body is shown lying on the mountain peak with blood coming out of his nose.
• Deadpan Snarker: Gandalf's temper is usually expressed through fairly harmless but snappy lines, such as telling Pippin to throw himself in the well to rid the Fellowship of his stupidity.
• Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Old guy vs. Balrog, old guy wins. Gandalf is a Maia on the same level of the Balrog, but it's still impressive considering the size advantage that the Balrog had over him.
• Distressed Dude: By the end of The Desolation of Smaug, he finds himself held captive in Dol Guldur after discovering the Necromancer's true identity as Sauron and has to be rescued in the next film by Galadriel, who is soon followed by the other members of the White Council.
• Doting Parent: Towards the younger heroes and warriors in whatever band he's in at the time.
• Dual Wielding: Wields both his staff and Glamdring at times.
• Dying Moment of Awesome: Shouts "You Shall Not Pass!!" to the Balrog, and destroys the bridge to save the rest of the Fellowship. After a long and harrowing fall, Gandalf smites the Balrog, but his exhaustion and the physical strain of the deed ends up killing Gandalf.
• Eccentric Mentor: To Bilbo and Frodo. He becomes less of it by the time he comes back as Gandalf the White.
• Elemental Powers: He is the Keeper of Narya, the Ring of Fire. But instead of housing the literal kind, it's rather the kindling of the fire of the spirit, which spiritually and emotionally supports Gandalf on his centuries-long quest to bring about Sauron's downfall. Gandalf's original staff in The Hobbit possesses the similar spirit.
• Erudite Stoner: The movies treat the hobbit pipeweed as a G-Rated Drug which turns Gandalf into this, especially in The Hobbit, where he at one point encourages Radagast to calm down by giving him a toke.
• The Fettered: Per Word of God, he's not supposed to use his magic powers without good reason, but instead outwit the Enemy whenever he can.
• Fire-Forged Friends: With Pippin, whom he didn't seem to like very much until their siege of Minas Tirith when they saved Faramir's life.
• Forgot About His Powers: Sometimes he uses his magic powers and sometimes he doesn't, which is actually an inherited trait from the books. He does when battling Saruman, or when facing the Balrog, or when he scares off the Nazgûl that are chasing Faramir's men on the road to Minas Tirith, but at other times he seems to forget he's a wizard and is content simply to whack bad guys with his staff, most notably when he's fighting in hand-to-hand combat in the siege of Minas Tirith or in the final battle at the gate to Mordor. Ian McKellen even asked this question once.
  McKellen: Why don't I zap them?
  Jackson: (thinking quickly) ...ah, you see, the staff is out of batteries and the local alchemy shop is closed for the war.
• Friend to All Children: When he arrives in Hobbiton at the beginning of Fellowship of the Ring, the hobbit children are delighted to see him and shout for him to set off fireworks; he happily obliges.
• Good Counterpart: To Saruman, especially after Gandalf returns as the fresh White Wizard against the fallen White Wizard. Lampshaded in the extended edition of The Two Towers.
  Legolas: Forgive me. I mistook you for Saruman.
  Gandalf: I am Saruman. Or rather Saruman as he should have been.
• Gasp of Life: He gasps for air after being resurrected as Gandalf the White.
• Good Is Not Nice: Downplayed. He's a genuinely kind man at heart, but he can manipulative for heroic reasons, as well as a little cantankerous and grouchy, and whilst his bark is worse than his bite he is not above emitting a few growls from time to time and letting his reputation do the rest.
• Good Is Not Soft: Beats up Denethor when the latter starts raving.
• Good Smoking, Evil Smoking: When he's relaxing, he'll usually get out his pipe and start making smoke rings. Or smoke ships.
• Grumpy Old Man: Lampshaded by Gimli when he comes back as Gandalf the White. "This new Gandalf's even grumpier than the old one!"
• Harbinger of Impending Doom: Implied by his critics to be a menace who carries ill tiddings in his wake.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Holds off the balrog in Moria to save the rest of the Fellowship.
• Hero with Bad Publicity: Several areas of Middle-earth think poorly of him, seeing him as something that causes trouble. Frodo, for instance, says that he has been officially declared a "disrupter of the peace" in the Shire and Wormtongue dubs him 'Láthspell'; "ill news is an ill guest." However, hobbit children adore him and even an adult has an Actually Pretty Funny reaction to him until his wife gives him a stare, and just as many people respect him.
• Holy Hand Grenade: His powers also exhibit an explosive quality, as seen in An Unexpected Journey when he completely flattens the goblin horde with a deafening blast of white light, right before they are about to hack Thorin's head off.
• Interspecies Friendship: He has many, but notably with the Hobbit Bilbo, Gwaihir (Lord of the Eagles), and the Elven Lady Galadriel.
• Knight Templar: Defied. Wearing the One Ring would make him far worse than Sauron, while being convinced of his own righteousness, which is why he puts it in Frodo's care instead.
• Large Ham: He can be quite bombastic at times.
  "The dark fire will not avail you, Flame of Udun! Go back to the shadow! You Shall Not Pass!!"
• The Leader: For the Fellowship of the Ring. He also seems to take this role for the Men of Gondor as they face the armies of Mordor storming Minas Tirith.
• Light 'em Up: Seems to be his main power, ranging from simple white light to illuminate his path, to protective light bubbles to sunlight manipulation. Predictably, it grows more powerful as he becomes Gandalf the White, capable of repelling freaking Nazgûl.
• Light Is Good: Gandalf has a lot of light-related abilities, has white hair and clothing as Gandalf the White, and is the Big Good of the story.
• Literal-Minded: He toys with this in The Hobbit, when he meets Bilbo and their conversation about the meaning of "good morning." However, it is revealed that Gandalf was doing it intentionally, partly to remind Bilbo of who he was and partly because it amused him to do so.
• Magnetic Hero: After Denethor crosses the Despair Event Horizon, Gandalf knocks him unconscious with a good thwack on the head and assumes control of the army defending Minas Tirith. Nobody in the army contests this change in leadership, and they begin to fight back against Sauron's forces. Notably, Gondor holds out the entire night until the Rohirrim show up.
• Manipulative Bastard: He's a heroic version of this, as it is his job to steer the Free People in the right direction to orchestrate Sauron's defeat, even if it means using friend and foe alike to achieve such ends.
• The Mentor: He serves as a mentor figure for Frodo - and Bilbo before him - to help them grow, but he insists that he only nudges them out the door.
• Mentor Occupational Hazard: Dies fighting the balrog, but he gets better.
• Messianic Archetype: Died and came back three days later, wearing white robes? Yep.
• Mind over Matter: Can exert some limited telekinesis from his staff's tip, most notably when he fights Saruman in Orthanc and when he momentarily contains the Orcs in Dol Guldur.
• Named Weapons: Glamdring, meaning "foe-hammer" in Sindarin.
• Offscreen Teleportation: He somehow manages to move from Bilbo's party to Bag End in Fellowship before Bilbo himself gets there, even though he is seen sitting in the audience while Bilbo is running home, made invisible by the Ring. All without crossing paths with him, either. He is a wizard, but not even the most powerful beings in Middle-earth can manage actual teleportation that we know, so this is left strangely unexplained.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • After he touches the One Ring briefly in Fellowship of the Ring, he comes to realize at least part of what he's up against as his mind forces itself to become distant to overcome the horror of a vision it invoked. By the time he's done research to figure out more about it and that it is Dark Lord Sauron's lost Ring, his return to Frodo has him twitchy, disheveled and paranoid, knowing full well that all hell was about to break loose. He breathes a sigh of relief when Frodo claims he doesn't see anything on the Ring after it's been exposed to the flames of his fireplace, making him just for a moment believe that it was only paranoia and it's "just" one of the lesser rings of power, only to immediately shift straight to despair when Frodo retracts his statement upon seeing the markings form.
  • In The Desolation of Smaug:
    Gandalf: We've been blind. And in our blindness, our enemy has returned.
• Older Than They Look: While he looks like a frail 70-year-old, he's actually a Maia (god-like entity) who has been around since the creation of the universe. He's been in Middle-earth for about 2000 years, and was the *last* of the Five Wizards to arrive, so Saruman and Radagast are older in that respect.
• Only Sane Man: Part of this is McKellen's often weary delivery, but Gandalf still often shows himself to be the only one with his mind together and in the right place throughout his many adventures — particularly in situations where he is desperately trying to give good advice to others and nobody will listen to him, most obviously with Thorin and Denethor. Sometimes feels like Surrounded by Idiots instead — such as in The Hobbit, where attempting to reason with the bullheaded Thorin results in him leaving for a few hours to let off some steam.
  Bilbo: Where are you going?
  Gandalf: To seek the company of the only one around here who's got any sense!
  Bilbo: Who's that?
  Gandalf: Myself, Mr. Baggins!
  • It's implied in the books that this is part of Gandalf's job description: be the Only Sane Man by being the one to break the problems to everyone else attempting to ignore them. Very often the reason he's gone from Frodo's or Bilbo's perception is to head forward and do this, or even to convince someone to be this themselves. Unfortunately, this allows the Enemy to take advantage of fear of what Gandalf says instead of the courage to tackle it Gandalf attempts to bring.
• Our Angels Are Different: The Wizards are really angel analogs for Middle-earth taking the form of elderly humans. Further more, unlike Angels of biblical legend who generally display their power before doing as needed, Wizards tend to favor guiding others instead of simply handing the answers over to them.
• Platonic Life-Partners: With Galadriel, as evidenced during the Hobbit when she's the only one who is supportive of Gandalf's quest to slay Smaug and was the one who rescued him from Dol Guldur.
• Playing with Fire: His staff houses the power of fire. In An Unexpected Journey, Gandalf uses it to light up the pine cones that hang from the tree he and Thorin's Company are trapped on to ward off Azog and his warg party. He also uses it to smoke.
• Power Echoes: When an outraged Thorin is about to throw Bilbo from the battlements in The Hobbit, Gandalf lets a bit of his true self show when shouting at him to let his burglar go.
  • Happens throughout Fellowship of the Ring: once when Bilbo flies into an immature rage and accuses Gandalf of wanting the Ring for himself; and again when the others simply refuse to listen during the meeting at Rivendell.
• Progressively Prettier: Gandalf the Grey is scruffy and unkempt, with well-worn traveling robes and tangled-up hairs on his head and in his beard that all reflect how frequently on the road he is and give him a more humble appearance. When he becomes Gandalf the White, his robes are cleaner, his beard is well trimmed, he frequently has a white glow around him that gives him an angelic aura and he carries a more dignified and authoritative presence everywhere he goes to reflect his new station.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The Red to Saruman's Blue. While Saruman would rather stay out of the affairs of other people, Gandalf actively influences them to take action in order to further his goals of kicking Sauron out of Middle-earth.
• Reverse Arm-Fold: He does this on the rare occasion that he's not clutching his staff or a pipe.
• Shut Up, Hannibal!: Right as the orc army starts their siege on Minas Tirith, Denethor, overcome with grief over Faramir's apparent death, starts yelling at his soldiers and citizens to abandon their posts and flee for their lives. Gandalf, fed up with the Steward's foolishness and despair, whacks the guy unconscious with his staff and orders Minas Tirith's army to stand their ground.
• Sleeps with Both Eyes Open: In Return of the King, Pippin attempts to take the Palantir from him whilst everyone is asleep and is briefly shocked when Gandalf appears to be awake.
• Small Steps Hero: He's a proponent of it. As seen in The Hobbit, when asked why he chose Bilbo Baggins of all people, Gandalf says that it's "simply acts of kindness and love" that keep evil in check, not a grand and sweeping power like what Saruman wants.
  Gandalf: Saruman believes it is only a great power that can hold evil in check. But that is not what I have found. I have found that it is the small things. Everyday deeds of ordinary folks that keep the darkness at bay. Simple acts of kindness and love.
• Taking You with Me: He and the Balrog both die in their fight, but only he returns to life.
• Time Abyss: He's older than time itself.
• Token Wizard: Can be considered the Trope Codifier, being a Wizard Classic with the most knowledge of magic, its ways, and applications in a team of otherwise Badass Normals.
• Took a Level in Badass: He's much stronger when he comes back as Gandalf the White.
• Voice of the Legion: When he first appears to the Three Hunters in Fangorn, Ian McKellen's voice is over/underlain by Christopher Lee's, which has a wonderful triple meaning: the blend concealed the newcomer's identity until the last moment so that those who hadn't read the books (or been spoiled by the trailers) would not know of Gandalf's resurrection; it played to Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas's worries that Saruman was after them, thanks to Éomer's warning and Saruman's pre-Face–Heel Turn habit of wandering the forest to talk to the Ents; and it suggested that after coming back as the White Wizard, Gandalf actually was Saruman—or as Gandalf said, "Saruman as he was meant to be." (Also, having become Saruman "the Many-Colored," it could be said he truly wasn't the White anymore, even aside from his fall to evil.)
• Walking the Earth: He's not called "The Grey Wanderer" for nothing, being possibly even more well-traveled than Aragorn is.
• Willfully Weak: Like the rest of the Wizards, Gandalf is actually operating at only a fraction of his full power. This is deliberate as the Valar decided to clothe the Wizards in the bodies of old men as they are meant to combat Sauron by wisdom and persuasion, not brute strength or force.
• Wizard Beard: He is a wizard, after all.
• Time-Passage Beard: His beard grows with age, as does his badassery.
• Wizard Classic: One of the most iconic modern examples and a Trope Codifier.
• The Worf Effect:
  • As noted in Adaptational Wimp, Gandalf loses or has a harder time of fights in the film-verse than the book-verse. Supposedly, this is more cinematic, and it raises the stakes for the Fellowship when their wise-and-powerful wizard is beaten. His staff is destroyed by the Witch-King of Angmar in the extended edition of Return Of The King and by Sauron in The Desolation of Smaug, just before Gandalf is captured.
  • On the other hand, he himself also subjects Saruman to this, twice. First when he forces the latter out of Theoden's body and mind, and then when he No-Sell's a fireball thrown by him and breaks his staff. This demonstrates how he is The White now, not Saruman, who has become a lesser title, "Many-Colored".
• Wrestler in All of Us: In the extended version of The Desolation of Smaug, he wrestles a bit against Thráin in Dol Guldur and submits him with a spinebuster.
• You Shall Not Pass!: Trope Namer, for when he destroys the narrow bridge in the mines of Moria to prevent the Balrog from reaching the rest of his comrades.

Aragorn

Aragorn (a.k.a. Strider)

"I do not know what strength is in my blood, but I swear to you I will not let the White City fall, nor our people fail."

Species: Man (Human)

Portrayed by: Viggo Mortensen

Voiced by: Sergio Gutiérrez Coto (Latin American Spanish dub), Hōchū Ōtsuka (Japanese dub), Juan Antonio Bernal (Spanish dub), Bernard Gabay (French dub)

Appears in: The Fellowship of the Ring | The Two Towers | The Return of the King

Arwen: Why do you fear the past? You are Isildur's heir, not Isildur himself. You are not bound to his fate.
Aragorn: The same blood flows in my veins. The same weakness.
Arwen: Your time will come. You will face the same evil, and you will defeat it.

The 16th Chieftain of the Dúnedain of the North. As the heir of Elendil, and the first High King of Arnor and Gondor, Aragorn is the rightful king of both realms, though Arnor fell long ago, and Gondor has been without a king for nearly 1000 years. Aragorn lived much of his life as a Ranger, but was eventually crowned King Elessar Telcontar in Minas Tirith as the 26th King of Arnor, and the 35th King of Gondor and First High King of the Reunited Kingdom. He was a great warrior, and as the heir of Isildur (Elendil's eldest son) bore the shards of Narsil, re-forged and renamed Andúril ("Flame of the West"), in the War of the Ring.

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• The Ace: He's a skilled Ranger, tracker, swordsman, archer, healer, and a decent singer.
• Adaptational Angst Upgrade: Aragorn is more unsure about returning to the throne of Gondor, and must be convinced by Elrond to do so. His reason is his ancestor Isildur's failure to destroy the One Ring, and Aragorn fears this weakness has been passed down to him. Because of this he's also more mistrusting of humans and it takes Boromir's death for him to open up and see the strength in others.
  • Also his relationship with Arwen. He's deeply in love with her, but believes she should go to the Undying Lands with the elves instead of forsaking her immortality and staying in Middle-earth.
• Age Lift: Retroactively. The films change Gandalf leaving the Ring with Frodo from 17 years to a few months at most. In The Hobbit films, it is mentioned that Aragorn is already a ranger of some notoriety. The lack of this gap means that the events of the prequel happens when Aragorn is about 27 while in the books, he was only 10. Note that the extended cut of Two Towers, Aragorn confirms he's 87, like in the book, so him retroactively being of age to be a Ranger in the prequels is preserved from the first film trilogy.
• Asskicking Leads to Leadership: He's the Heir of Isildur and rightful King of the Dúnedain. He's a better tracker and woodsman than the Wood-elf Legolas, a deadly warrior, a skilled battlefield medic, strong-willed enough to use a Palantír and even wrench it out of Sauron's control, and wise enough to know he can't and must not use the One Ring.
• Back-to-Back Badasses: With Gimli, during the Battle of Helm's Deep fighting the Uruk-hai.
• Badass Longcoat: He wears a dark-green "ranger coat" throughout most of the series. Unfortunately, he sheds it when he becomes king.
• Badass Normal: Until he gets the re-forged Narsil, which is a powerful artifact of a blade in its own right that gives him a major leg up in battle, Aragorn is this to a T as the most natural fighter of the cast after Boromir's death, even with his special heritage as the heir of Isildur. His first real fight on-screen? Tackling multiple Nazgûl at once in a bit of an ambush surprise and managing to ward them off by himself, even if only temporarily. He's considered one of the greatest soldiers of Man, if not the greatest, and earns that reputation. The only deviation is his Healing Hands, which he rarely uses in favor of more practical medicine.
• Batman Gambit: Comes up with the plan to attack the Black Gate and personally challenges Sauron through the Palantir, knowing that Sauron would be so fixated on meeting the challenge since, in his mind, Aragorn must have the ring to be so bold. Sauron never would have determined that Aragorn was merely trying to distract him.
• Battle Cry: Shouts "Elendil!" before jumping off a ledge onto a bunch of Uruks in Amon Hen. Also just tends to shout a lot in battle, as seen in Moria and Helm's Deep.
• Big Brother Instinct: To the Hobbits, especially Frodo. Throughout the first film, Aragorn can be seen helping them with their swordwork, keeping them safe during the heavier battles, and at one point, even takes on an entire army of Orcs just to ensure that Frodo will get away safely.
• Bling of War: Aragorn wears cool silver armour at his coronation, but it appears to be purely ceremonial, so this is Downplayed.
• Boomerang Bigot: Downplayed. As noted under Adaptational Angst Upgrade. It's not a huge part of his personality, but it's definitely there to some degree. He's much slower to trust other Men than he is other beings, and the primary reason he runs away from his responsibilities as rightful king is because of his awareness of human failings and the realization those failings are in himself as he doesn't want to be king for fear of becoming a tyrant.
• Blood from the Mouth: While fighting Lurtz, the orc headbutts him in the face and his mouth is bleeding afterwards.
• Bow and Sword in Accord: He uses both bow and sword in the first movie, but he usually uses the bow only to open battle, staying in melee once it thickens.
• The Captain: Of the Rangers of the North, and of the Fellowship after Gandalf's passage.
• Cool Sword: Andúril, reforged from the shards of Narsil, an ancient heirloom of his line.
• Cruel to Be Kind: After their narrow escape from the Mines of Moria, most of the Fellowship is extremely distraught at the loss of Gandalf and stop just outside the exit to mourn. However, Aragorn orders Boromir to get them on their feet and continue the journey, answering protests of not giving them a moment by noting that by nightfall, the area will be crawling with Orcs fully intent on killing them or worse, and the Fellowship must get to safety before dusk.
• Dark Is Not Evil: He wears rather dark clothing during his initial introduction and throughout the films until he dons on Gondorian armor for the final battle. It's the main reason why the Hobbits—Sam, in particular—are so mistrusting of him the first time they meet.
• A Day in the Limelight: The Two Towers is this for Aragorn, as he has more screen time and character development than Frodo & Sam, the two main characters of the series.
• Deadpan Snarker: Not to the extent as Gimli, but he does have some similar fire in him.
  Aragorn: (to Frodo after he accidentally uses the One Ring and disappears) I can avoid being seen if I wish, but to disappear entirely? That is a rare gift.
• Death Wail: Aragorn lets one out when he finds Merry and Pippin's elven belts on the Orc funeral pyre. They're not actually dead though, as he later deduces from his Ranger tracking skills. In real life, it was because Mortensen had just broken his toes on the helmet he kicked and they decided it fit the scene.
• Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?: He goads Sauron into the Final Battle by contacting him, showing him exactly who he is, and telling him to his face he doesn't fear him.
• Disney Death: During a skirmish against some warg scouts in The Two Towers, Aragorn gets stuck in the saddle of a single warg that ends up running off of a cliff and into a running rapid. It's later revealed that Aragorn survived the fall before making his way back to Helm's Deep.
• The Dreaded: Sauron is so terrified at the thought of Aragon potentially taking back the throne he sends everything at Gondor to raze Minas Tirith to the ground. Later on, Aragorn is able to get his full attention just by revealing he's still alive.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: He must have the Enemy overthrown before he can become king and marry Arwen.
• Engagement Challenge: As above.
• Finger Extinguisher: He extinguishes a flame with his bare hands to show how strong he is.
• Freudian Trio: With Legolas and Gimli; represents the Ego.
• The Hero's Journey: He has his own journey in the trilogy, separate from Frodo's quest to destroy the Ring. His duty is uniting the race of Men and leading them to fight against Sauron. Aragorn ends up happier and wiser at the end of his adventure, having married Arwen, united the kingdoms of Men, and helped save the world from Sauron's tyranny.
• Heroes Prefer Swords: First a Ranger longsword, then his ancient heirloom Andúril.
• Heroic Lineage: He is part of the long line created by both Beren and Lúthien.
• Heroic Willpower: Enough to resist the One Ring and even master the Palantír.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Legolas. Though it becomes a trio when Gimli enters the picture. Legolas's final scene in The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies seems to confirm this, making them actually the second generation with their fathers as precursor.
• Honor Before Reason: The reason he undertakes his quest for kingship in the first place was because of his love for Arwen.
• I Gave My Word: After Pelennor Fields, the army of the dead demand Aragorn release them, as he promised he would. Gimli points out they could still be useful, but Aragorn chooses to keep his promise. He also makes a promise to Boromir to not let Minas Tirith and Gondor fall.
• I Just Want to Be Normal: Refused to follow his destiny for many years. Of course, in the third film, he embraces it wholeheartedly.
• I Have Many Names: Aragorn, Estel (Hope in Sindarin, given by Elrond), Elessar (elf-stone), Strider, and Longshanks (the name Sam calls him at one point).
• Interspecies Friendship: With Legolas for about sixty years, starting from after the Battle of the Five Armies when Legolas tells his father he cannot go home with him and is in turn told to search out "a young ranger by the name of Strider". He has also known Gandalf for sometime as well, born from hunting Gollum together.
• Jack of All Trades: Bordering on Master of All as he's amazingly proficient in a variety different weapons, disciplines, tactics, and languages.
• Kissing Cousins: Arwen is technically his first cousin... sixty-seven times removed, since Aragorn is a direct male-line descendant of Elros Tar-Minyatur, the first king of Númenor and Elrond's brother (Elrond and Elros, being half-elves, were allowed to choose whether to be elf or man; Elrond chose the former, Elros the latter).
• The Lancer: Downplayed. When Gandalf's leading, Aragorn tends to be the practically minded and cautious second-in-command.
• The Leader: He's one for the Fellowship after Gandalf's departure, for an army of Elves during the Battle of Helm's Deep, for an army of undead Oathbreakers on the Pelennor Fields, and finally for the united Men of the West at the Black Gate.
• Looks Like Jesus: Bonus points for being the savior of Gondor with Healing Hands.
• Loved I Not Honor More: Towards Arwen.
• Master Swordsman: He is a master with the sword compared to Boromir's more brutal approach.
• The Medic: He has Healing Hands and other special healing powers due to his lineage. Despite this, however, he does very little healing during the story, and completely lacks the typical squishiness of a White Mage.
• Memento MacGuffin: The Ring of Barahir. Not explained in the films, but he is shown wearing it as an Easter Egg or Mythology Gag for readers. Elaborated in the Extended Edition of Two Towers, where Wormtongue mentions it to Saruman, who quickly figures out who he is.
• Messianic Archetype: He shares this role along with Frodo. Also, he inspired Rohan and the rest of Middle-earth to fight for their freedom, plus he has gained more followers as he continued his journey. Being destined to be King of Gondor and being a descendant of Isildur, will make you this.
• Mr. Fanservice: At least in the films.
• Named Weapons: Andúril, "Flame of the West".
• Neverending Terror: Since Sauron knew who he was, and what he was, Aragorn's spent his entire life being hunted by the dark lord's forces, looking to make sure he never gets to the throne. Aragorn's mother knew this as well, as Elrond recounts.
  Elrond: In her heart, your mother knew you'd be hunted all your life.
• Nice Guy: While the book version is a little bit more rude, bordering on Jerk with a Heart of Gold, here his kindness (which is always there and genuine, make no mistake) is more emphasised.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: He stops Théoden from killing Wormtongue because too much blood had already been spilled. Wormtongue turns around and gives Saruman the secret to defeating the defenses at Helm's Deep; thus, causing nearly all the defenders to be killed. Too much blood, indeed. (Though Saruman was already experimenting with explosives prior to Wormtongue's arrival, so he may have not revealed anything that wasn't already known to Saruman.)
• Older Than They Look: Thanks to Númenórean descent, he's at his prime at 87.
• Older Sidekick: To the Hobbits, at first.
• One-Man Army: While he often has friends or an army on his side, Aragorn certainly kills enough Orcs in battle to qualify, and was very much this trope for part of the battle of Amon Hen in the first film. He has killed 60 enemies on-screen, but this also includes some Elite Mooks, and he certainly killed much more enemies during off-screen fighting scenes. Just remember the many war sequences.
• Perma-Stubble: He has this form of facial hair throughout most of the films. By the time of his coronation, though, he grows it out into a full beard.
• Rebel Prince: He chose exile instead of leading his people. It's pretty much the main reason why Boromir—who loves Gondor more than anything—resents him so much, at least at first.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni:
  • He's the Blue to Boromir's Red. He's a more skillful warrior as well as an equally accomplished healer, and is very reluctant to take up his duty to defend his future homeland. He's also the one who refused to take the Ring from Frodo. Aragorn is also a bit cold and stern while Boromir is more boisterous. This even goes to their designs as Boromir is a bit better dressed and more well-kept while Aragorn is scruffier and his outfit is beat to hell.
  • He's also the Blue to both Legolas and Gimli. While the Elf and the Dwarf are quite fight-happy (not to mention competitive with each other), Aragorn's the one who defuses the tensions between others they come across before things get out of hand.
• Requisite Royal Regalia
  • Crown of Gondor
  • Ring of Barahir
  • The-Sword-that-was-Broken
• Rightful King Returns: Of course. Gondor's been waiting hundreds of years for The Return of the King.
• Rousing Speech: Before the Battle of the Black Gate.
  "By all that you hold dear on this good Earth, I bid you stand, Men of the West!"
• Royal Blood: The purest now left.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: Spends the entire trilogy fighting Sauron's forces, whether it be orc, Nazgul, or anything else. He leads the defense of the Hornburg alongside Theoden and Haldir, then personally leads the combined armies of Gondor and Rohan at the Battle of the Black Gate.
• Scarily Competent Tracker: At the beginning of The Two Towers, Aragorn and Co have been tracking down an army of Uruk-Hai for at least three days. When he arrives to the scene and finds the remains of Uruk-Hai that held Merry and Pippin hostage, he manages to piece together what happened that night by simply observing the lay of the land.
• Shut Up, Hannibal!: Swiftly decapitates the Mouth of Sauron once he gets sick of his shit.
• Supporting Leader: Former Trope Namer.
• Tall, Dark, and Handsome: He's definitely this in the films, especially when he cleans up nicely both during scenes in Rivendell and his coronation.
• Tragic Keepsake: Subtle, but after Boromir's death, Aragorn dons his vambraces as he, Legolas, and Gimli set their fallen friend to rest. He wears these for the remainder of the series to honor both his friend and his promise to save Gondor.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: Though he doesn't really trust Boromir and they tend to disagree quite a lot, Aragorn's at least willing to hear out the other Man's hopes and fears regarding their people. They ultimately part as friends when Boromir dies.
• Vocal Evolution: When he first appears he has a definite brogue to his voice - signifying his status as a ranger. As the trilogy progresses, his voice subtly changes to become more RP - and thus sound more regal.
• Walking the Earth: He has spent many years as a Ranger roaming in the Wilds.
• Warrior Prince: He is Isildur's Heir, after all.
• Young and in Charge: Downplayed, as he is 87, but compared to Gimli and Legolas, who are both hundreds of years old, he is quite young. Nevertheless, he is the wisest among the three and their unquestioned leader.

Legolas

Legolas Greenleaf

"Something draws near. I can feel it."

Species: Elf

Portrayed by: Orlando Bloom

Voiced by: José Antonio Macías (Latin American Spanish dub), Daisuke Hirakawa (Japanese dub), Sergio Zamora (Spanish dub), Denis Laustriat (French dub)

Appears in: The Desolation of Smaug | The Battle of the Five Armies | The Fellowship of the Ring | The Two Towers | The Return of the King

"The stars are veiled. Something stirs in the East. A sleepless malice. The eye of the enemy is moving."

An Elf of the Woodland Realm in northern Mirkwood in the east of Middle-earth, Legolas was part of the Fellowship in the Third Age. He is the son of King Thranduil of Mirkwood and a Prince of the Woodland Realm as well as a swift messenger and master bowman. Legolas eventually became great friends with the dwarf Gimli, who was also a member of the Fellowship of the Ring.

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• The Ace: To almost ridiculous levels. In The Return of the King, he takes down a fully-armed War Mûmak and its crew all by himself.
• Adaptation Dye-Job: Tolkien's Middle-earth books and histories strongly suggest that the Elves of Mirkwood—very much including Legolas and Thranduil—had dark hair. But here, his hair is a very light blond, probably for the sake of differentiating him from both Aragorn and Boromir, and the fact that Thranduil was once described in The Hobbit as having golden blond hair.
• Adaptational Early Appearance: Makes his appearance in the last two Hobbit films. He's a supporting protagonist who arguably gets the best fights of the entire second film.
• Adaptation Personality Change: In the movies, Legolas comes off as more stoic and detached than his more emotional (and snarkier) book counterpart.
• Adaptational Badass: Sure, in the books he kills a Fellbeast but otherwise there's no suggestion Legolas is stronger than Aragorn or Gimli. In the movies, however, Legolas has his "Leggy Moments" i.e surfboarding on a shield down a staircase while firing arrows and then hurtling the shield into a orc's chest or taking down a pack of Haradrim and a massive Oliphaunt (basically a giant freaking elephant) all by himself like a One Elf Army.
• Beauty Is Never Tarnished: All this pretty boy gets over the course of the original trilogy is a bruise and a little smudge of dirt.
• Bottomless Magazines: Over five films, he's run out of arrows exactly once, and he had already killed way more orcs than he had arrows in that instance.
• Bow and Sword in Accord: He switches between his bow and his knives when appropriate. Elves in general are capable of both archery and swordplay.
• Captain Obvious: "A diversion." So Named in Legolas: The Very Special Diaries, thus becoming Trope Codifier.
• Composite Character: He's the one who kills Bolg instead of Beorn in The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies.. Furthermore, his status as an old friend and companion of Aragorn gives him traits of Elrond's sons Elladan and Elrohir.
• Cool Sword: Gets to wield Orcrist when his group captures Thorin and the other dwarves. Which may or may not be a deliberate Shout-Out to a certain Legolas Greenleaf leading Glorfindel's (i.e. the original wielder of Orcrist) group away from Gondolin after it fell and Glorfindel himself died at the hands of a Balrog. Also leads to Fridge Brilliance, as this could be the reason how this as well as Glamdring and Sting survived the fall of the city in the first place.
• Character Development: It's evident that he used to be something of a Jerkass in his youth, as shown in Desolation of Smaug, compared to the much gentler soul he is in the Trilogy. This is apparent even in his appearance—Legolas is much paler in The Hobbit with particularly icy blue eyes, making for a visual Defrosting Elf Prince between the two trilogies.
• Death Is Such an Odd Thing: Orlando Bloom said in the commentaries for the extended edition that this is what he was trying for, when the camera had its closeup on his face in the One-Woman Wail montage after Gandalf fell: he was coming to grips with what death was, as an elf whose only experience with it previously had been seeing enemies die in battle.
• Dual Wielding: The only other weapons he ever carries is a pair of knives, and at one point Orcrist.
• Elves vs. Dwarves: Like all other Elves, he views the Dwarves with disdain and even threatens to kill Thorin during his initial introduction in The Desolation of Smaug. For his part, it gradually comes to an end over the course of The Lord of the Rings the more time he spends with Gimli.
• Fantastic Racism: As shown in the second Hobbit movie, Legolas originally shared his father's disdain for anyone who wasn't an Elf, especially Dwarves.
• The Fair Folk: His father is the king of them. One trait that other elves rarely display that he shows multiple times is that despite having the size and strength of a Man, he weighs very little. This allows him to walk on top of fresh snow and not even leave footprints and enables his incredible feats of acrobatics in combat.
• First Injury Reaction: Legolas has this reaction in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, when he meets his Worthy Opponent in the form of Bolg, who manages to actually give Legolas a nosebleed. Legolas is clearly confused by the experience, and briefly looks at his own blood with surprise before going after Bolg again.
• Freudian Trio: With Aragorn and Gimli; represents the Superego. However, he is the Ego in the group with Tauriel and Thranduil in The Hobbit films, having to balance out his father's aloof demeanor and Tauriel's hot-blooded personality.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners:
  • Legolas and Aragorn have been implied to be and are frequently portrayed as this by the fans. His final scene in The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies seems to confirm this, making them actually the second generation with their fathers as precursor.
  • He eventually becomes this with Gimli by the end of the trilogy, to the point that they sail West together after Aragorn's death.
• Icy Blue Eyes: His eyes are much paler in The Hobbit films then the original trilogy. This is a fitting visual metaphor since the younger Legolas is far colder in demeanor.
• Improbable Aiming Skills: His aims are pretty much regular in the original, but taken to a ridiculous level in the PJ films.
• Interspecies Friendship: Two of them.
  • He's been in this with Aragorn for about sixty years, starting from after the Battle of the Five Armies when Legolas tells his father he cannot go home with him and is in turn told to search out "a young ranger by the name of Strider".
  • Eventually, he forms another with Gimli. This is one of the first pairings of its kind in so long.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: In The Hobbit films, he's clearly in love with the elf Tauriel but when he sees that she's in love with the dwarf Kíli he does his best to warn her that it can't work out. Apart from that he doesn't interfere, and he feels sorry for Tauriel when Kíli is killed in the course of trying to rescue her from the Curb-Stomp Battle she's getting from Bolg. He goes on to save her himself, and finally succeeds in killing Bolg only after an epic battle. Not that it does him any good.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: In The Hobbit films. He's callous and insulting towards the dwarves, but he also doesn't share his father's class prejudices and cares about the wellbeing of the world beyond their borders. As of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, he's mostly dropped the "jerk" part of it and has become a nice, if mildly aloof, guy.
• The Lancer: He's Aragorn's most trusted confidant. While they have personality traits in common, they don’t always agree on the best way to approach situations, and their fighting styles are largely opposite (archer and swordsman).
• Long-Haired Pretty Boy: He's an Elf, so having long hair is kinda inevitable.
• Master Archer: While Legolas was noted as a good archer in the books, the films exaggerate this skill of his: he manages to hit his targets while hanging upside down or surfing down a staircase while on a shield, and takes down a fully-armed oliphaunt with only his bow and arrows.
• Missing Mom: His mother was killed by the orcs in Gundabad and he at one point tells Tauriel that his father has never even mentioned her since. It isn't until the end of the third Hobbit film that Thranduil notes that she loved her son more than anything else in the world — which is probably about half of what Legolas wanted to hear.
• Mr. Exposition: When he's not being Captain Obvious.
• My Species Doth Protest Too Much: While Legolas shared his species' Fantastic Racism, he did call out his father on their willingess to ignore what's happening in the outside world.
• Never Gets Drunk: In the extended cut of Return of the King, he has a drinking contest with Gimli in which he only starts getting slightly tipsy after nine mugs of ale, at which point Gimil is plastered enough to pass out.
• Not So Stoic:
  • After fighting Bolg in Laketown, his reaction to being injured and unable to defeat a foe in single combat probably for the first time ever leaves him pretty stunned.
  • He's very quiet and calm, even in battle, but when Aragorn falls during his fight with the armored troll in Return of the King, you can see him really panicking. You can't hear what he's saying but even if you aren't an expert at lip-reading you can make out that he's screaming his friend's name. In three movies, he loses his cool exactly twice.
  • In The Two Towers, when a particularly antagonistic Éomer confronts the three, Aragorn's immediate reaction is to put a restraining hand on Gimli, who speaks up first. But when Éomer states that he'd kill Gimli without hesitation, Legolas goes full-on Tranquil Fury and draws an arrow point-blank on Éomer, telling him in no uncertain terms that he'd die first if he tried to pull anything stupid. Gimli's stunned reaction afterwards just seals the deal.
• Odd Friendship: With Gimli, due to their feuding races.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • In The Hobbit trilogy, he has a moment of panic when Tauriel is in danger and, for the first time, he has run out of arrows.
  • When the Balrog first makes its presence known in Moria, Legolas is visibly wide-eyed with fear. Justified as he probably knows what happened the last time an Elf tried to take on a Balrog.
  • He has a brief one in Return of The King when he realizes that through Pippin meddling with the Palantir, Sauron can see what's happening at Edoras.
  Legolas: He is here!
• One Elf Army: He racks up quite an impressive body-count across both trilogies.
• Only Sane Man: Though Tauriel was first, he pretty quickly realizes that his father has flaws, seems to pay attention when Thorin saves his life, and agrees to help Tauriel with the orcs without much of an argument.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: The only time he ever appears frightened◊ in the trilogy is at the mention of the Balrog. With good reason: any and all military encounters between elf and balrog end with the death of the elf, and in ONE case, the death of the balrog as well. Glorfindel was one of only two elves to successfully slay a balrog (the other was Ecthelion, Second-in-Command of Turgon, High King of the Noldor), and for this deed, he was actually allowed to return to Middle-earth after his resurrection in Aman.
• Platonic Life-Partners: With Tauriel. It is implied by Thranduil that Legolas has grown quite fond of her.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The blue to Gimli's red, being a stoic Elf who uses a bow to pluck off anything in his way.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: Though it only gets an offhand mention in the movies, Legolas is the Prince of Mirkwood and son of King Thranduil. Gets expanded upon in The Hobbit, where he disputes with his father over the course the Mirkwood elves should take after the escape of Thorin and Company.
• Saved by Canon: In Battle of the Five Armies, he's practically invincible. No enemy can even scratch him and he seemingly has gravity defying powers, simply because he must survive to be in the next trilogy.
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Disobeys his father and leaves Mirkwood with Tauriel to help fight the darkness, rather than close their borders and hide from it.
• Shield Surf: He does this down some stone stairs during the battle for Helm's Deep, blazing a trail for shield surfers everywhere. He then surfs down the trunk of an Oliphaunt in the third film.
• Short Range Guy, Long Range Guy: He's the long range guy (bow and arrows) to Aragorn and Gimli's short range (sword and axe, respectively).
• The Smart Guy: Given his advanced age compared to everyone except Gandalf, it often falls to Legolas to give explanations or elaborate on complicated subjects.
• The Stoic: Like his father and most of his elven kin, it takes quite a bit to surprise or frighten Legolas. His Not So Stoic expression when he first hears the Balrog in Moria speaks volumes about how dangerous an opponent it is.
• Strong Family Resemblance: Aside from the various wigs and prosthetics, both Orlando Bloom and Lee Pace have strikingly similar facial features, so this is definitely the case in the films.
• Throwing Your Shield Always Works: He does it at Helm's Deep; after sliding down the staircase, he picks up his shield and throws it at an orc, pinning him around the neck.
• Throwing Your Sword Always Works: He throws Orcrist at a troll to save Thorin's life.
• Took a Level in Kindness: He still has some Character Development to go through in The Lord of the Rings, but he's far nicer there than he is in The Hobbit sixty years earlier.
• Tranquil Fury:
  • In Desolation, he falls into one of these after Bolg successfully injures him, something that nobody else has managed. It was only a nosebleed, but the look on Legolas's face was of barely contained rage, and the last we see of him, he's on his horse, trying to run Bolg down and kill him in retribution. Which, given that Bolg is likely fleeing toward the Orc army moving out from Dol Goldur, is probably a bad thing.
  • Again in The Two Towers when Éomer threatens to kill Gimli. Legolas is not amused.
• Unrequited Love: For Tauriel, as explored in the last two Hobbit films. Of course, never mentioning Tauriel throughout the original trilogy suggests he may have gotten over her (somewhat).
• Vitriolic Best Buds: With Gimli. The fact that Legolas's father kept Gimli's father captive in The Hobbit doesn't help, either. Shown a picture of him, Legolas even asked if Gimli was an orc mutant before being told that he is Glóin's wee lad.
• Warrior Prince: He's an elven prince. He also took down what essentially amounts to a war elephant by himself.
• What the Hell, Hero?:
  • Delivers one to Thranduil after the latter decapitated Narzug, despite having vowed to release him.
  • In The Two Towers, he doesn't understand King Théoden's choice of sending both old men and young boys (at least the able-bodied ones), who have never fought in wars, to fight in the defense of Helm's Deep and doesn't hold back when bringing it up to Aragorn, who at least understands the Elf's point of view but also sees the reasons behind Théoden's choices a little bit better.
• Wrestler in All of Us: He nails Bolg with a hurricanrana during their duel on the tower bridge.
• You Can't Go Home Again: When the battle's done and the mourning starts, Legolas flat out tells Thranduil that, after all that's passed between them, he can't return to the forest.

Gimli

Gimli

"Certainty of death. Small chance of success. What are we waiting for?"

Species: Dwarf

Portrayed by: John Rhys-Davies

Voiced by: Alejandro Villeli (Latin American Spanish dub), Kenji Utsumi (Japanese dub), Miguel Ángel Jenner (Spanish dub), Vincent Grass (French dub)

Appears in: The Desolation of Smaug^note picture only | The Fellowship of the Ring | The Two Towers | The Return of the King

"What madness is this? An elf will venture underground, where a dwarf dare not? Aah, I'd never hear the end of it!"

A Dwarf of Erebor, descended from Durin the Deathless, the eldest of the Seven Fathers of the Dwarves and thus a cousin to the royal family. Gimli is a powerful dwarf lord and a mighty warrior, as well as the son of Glóin, who helped reclaim the Lonely Mountain with Bilbo Baggins sixty years prior to the War of the Ring. Gimli was a member of the Fellowship of the Ring and was the only dwarf to readily fight alongside elves in the war against Sauron at the end of the Third Age. After the defeat of Sauron, he was given lordship of the Glittering Caves at Helm's Deep and founded a flourishing Dwarven colony there.

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• Adaptational Comic Relief: From the second film onwards, Gimli takes on more of a comic relief role, still giving one-liners as in the first film but also providing physical comedy. His book counterpart is a much more dignified, well-respected character, although some of his funny moments in the films came from the books (such as his Orc-slaying competition with Legolas, though even that one was altered to his detriment). Word of God confirms that they heightened this role to accommodate Merry and Pippin's Coming of Age, Dwarves being crude and all.
• Ancestral Weapon: He wields the same axes that Glóin did in The Hobbit, who apparently passed them down to his son. It's also revealed that Glóin's father, Gróin, had these in his possession as well.
• Anger Born of Worry: Given his Manly Man personality, Gimli often displays his affection for the other members of the Fellowship through gruff insults.
  • When Aragorn comes back after being thought dead he shoves his way through a crowd while roaring: "Where is he? Where is he?! Get out of my way! I'M GONNA KILL HIM!!! [finally sees Aragorn] You are the luckiest, canniest, and the most reckless man I ever knew! [Beat, then he goes over to give Aragorn a bear hug] Bless you, laddie!"
  • When they finally find Merry and Pippin after days of searching for them: "You young rascals! A merry hunt you've led us on, and now we find you feasting, and ... and smoking!"
• Back-to-Back Badasses: With Aragorn, during the Battle of Helm's Deep fighting the Uruk-hai.
• The Big Guy: He is one of the fiercest fighters in the Fellowship despite his size.
• Blood Knight: He loves to get into the thick of fighting and often the first one in. His response to the Uruk-hai utilizing ladders to scale walls of Helms Deep puts it best.
  Gimli: Good!
• Body-Count Competition: Ur-Example, with Legolas, whom he competes with throughout the story. He's not going to let a "pointy-earred elven princling" outscore him on the battlefield.
• Brave Scot: Gimli may be from Middle-earth, but he comes across as this with his thick Scottish accent, red hair, and habit of calling everyone "laddie".
• Bring It: Not the most mobile of warriors, so he likes to taunt enemies into coming to him.
  Gimli: (To a Warg) Bring yer pretty face to my axe!
  • Also, in Moria:
  Gimli: Let them come! There is one Dwarf yet in Moria who still draws breath!
• Butt-Monkey: Most evident in The Two Towers and The Return of the King.
  • In The Two Towers, he struggles to keep up with Aragorn and Legolas while running across Rohan, and spends most of the fight against the Warg riders stuck under an increasing pile of dead Wargs and orcs. His short height is comically detrimental during the battle of Helm's Deep, being unable to look over the wall, donning a chainmail that's too big for him, and getting tossed by Aragorn because he can't make a long jump by himself.
  • In The Return of the King, he passes out from drinking too much ale while Legolas is merely starting to get slightly tipsy after nine mugs, and he's spooked by the thought of going into the Paths of the Dead.
• Courtly Love: Towards Galadriel, rather adorably. When confronted with her beauty and kindness, the usually gruff and boisterous Gimli mumbles nervously and becomes something of a Warrior Poet.
  Galadriel: And what gift would a Dwarf ask of the Elves?
  Gimli: Nothing. [Beat] Except to look upon the Lady of the Galadhrim one last time, for she is more fair than all the jewels beneath the earth.
• Deadpan Snarker: He's among one of the snarkiest in the Fellowship, especially when it comes to his rivalry with Legolas.
  Gimli: (after Aragorn beheads the Mouth of Sauron) I guess that concludes negotiations.
• Determined Defeatist: Feels this way about the last battle in The Return of the King. In Gimli's mind, the Fellowship is about to charge into an utterly hopeless battle in which they're not only guaranteed to die, but that their chance of getting what they want out of it is minimal anyway. He then declares "What are we waiting for?" and presses onward.
• Dual Wielding: Carries somewhere between seven and eleven axes. The two he uses most often are Balin's double-bladed great axe (that he picked up in Moria) and his 'walking' axe (used as a walking stick). Frequently, however, he dual wields the walking axe and his bearded axe. He also carries a variable number of throwing axes.
• Elves vs. Dwarves: Initially, he is antagonistic with elves, saying one should never trust them and going on Cultural Posturing about dwarves. Then subverted when he becomes friendly with Legolas and starts to admire Galadriel's beauty and kindness.
• Fiery Redhead: Just like his father before him, he's a rowdy ginger.
• Freudian Trio: With Legolas and Aragorn; he represents the Id.
• Friendly Rivalry: With Legolas. The two of them have a habit of keeping track of their kill counts during several battles.
  Gimli: (After Legolas kills a Warg ready to attack him) That one counts as mine!
• Have I Mentioned I Am a Dwarf Today?: He does not deal with other people: it's always a dwarf dealing with an elf or a human. He almost completely refers to other people not by their name, but only by their race. He does refer to both Aragorn and Legolas by their names at times, but usually only in life-threatening situations, such as when he shouts Aragorn's name during the battle of Helm's Deep when the wall is breached and he jumps off the ramparts into the Uruk-hai horde to prevent them from killing the downed human.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: He forms a trio version of this with Aragorn and Legolas, starting with their search for Merry and Pippin. By the end, he and Legolas regard each other as friends, thereby healing the rift between their races and allowing Gimli to be the only Dwarf to sail West because of said friendship.
• I Meant to Do That: When he falls off his horse in The Two Towers.
  Nobody panic! It was deliberate. It was deliberate.
• Interspecies Friendship: With Legolas, obviously. They are the first elf and dwarf to have a friendship of any type in thousands of years.
• The Juggernaut: Gimili's fighting can best be described as "jump into the thick of things and keep hacking until everything is dead." It takes three creatures, all twice his size, falling on him, to pin him down, and even then only temporarily.
• Jumped at the Call: He is usually the most eager to enter a battle and always has a fighting spirit.
• Large Ham: He is very exuberant and pompous, and John Rhys-Davies clearly had a kick out of playing him.
• Manly Man: Gimli's personality in the film is very much the gung-ho burly fighting man. This is in contrast to his more scholarly persona in the book.
• Odd Friendship: With Legolas, due to their feuding races.
• Our Dwarves Are All the Same: Trope Codifier. Just like his father, he's quite the prototypical dwarf: a stout, truculent, proud, and gold-loving guy with an axe and an impressive beard.
• Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Dwarves are very strong for their size.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The Red to Legolas's blue, being a more gruff and proud Dwarf who delights in putting his axes to his orc enemies' heads.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: Through his father Glóin, he's distantly related to the line of Durin and the royal family of Erebor.
• Short Range Guy, Long Range Guy: Is the Short Range of the pair.
• Straight Man and Wise Guy: Gimli is the Wise Guy to both Aragorn and Legolas, providing physical comedy and gruff one-liners.
• Strong Family Resemblance: To his father, Glóin.
• Violent Glaswegian: In the film, he is very violent and he sounds very Scottish.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: With Legolas. The fact that Legolas's father kept Gimli's father captive in The Hobbit doesn't help, either.
• Weapon Specialization: He has axes for days. His primary weapon is the walking axe he inherited from his father Gloin, but he also carries a double headed axe he picked up in Moria, a bearded axe, and two throwing axes.
• Why Don't Ya Just Shoot Him?: When Elrond declares that the One Ring must be destroyed, Gimli immediately attempts the most obvious solution. Sure, it didn't work and cost him a perfectly good axe... but it sure would have saved a lot of time and trouble if it had worked.

Boromir

Boromir

"I ask only for the strength to defend my people!"

Species: Man (Human)

Portrayed by: Sean Bean

Voiced by: Salvador Delgado (Latin American Spanish dub), Rikiya Koyama (Japanese dub), Jordi Boixaderas (Spanish dub), François-Eric Gendron (French dub)

Appears in: The Fellowship of the Ring | The Two Towers^note flashback, extended edition only | The Return of the King^note hallucination, extended edition only

"Gondor has no king. Gondor needs no king."

Eldest son and heir of Denethor, the Ruling Steward of Gondor. Boromir is a Captain of the White Tower, Captain-General of Gondor, a masterful soldier, and a natural leader who led his beleaguered people to dozens of great victories over the forces of Mordor. Still, Boromir is more concerned with feats of arms than his wiser and more bookish little brother, Faramir.

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• Adaptational Heroism: In the book, Boromir, from the beginning, had no plans to actually escort the Ring to Mordor; rather, he means to return home with Aragorn, and that happens to be taking more or less the same road for a lot of its length. This idea is not present in the films, suggesting that Boromir was indeed up for taking Frodo all the way to Mordor (or at least making sure they swung by Minas Tirith on the way) until the Ring got its claws in him.
• Adaptational Nice Guy: He's been notably softened up compared to his book counterpart, with a lot more focus on his jovial, caring side.
• Adaptation Dye-Job: He was dark-haired in the books but here, his hair is Sean Bean's light brown, which helps to contrast him visually with dark-haired Aragorn.
• Annoying Arrows: Subverted, just like in the book. It takes a lot of arrows to bring Boromir down, but Lurtz kills him in the end.
• Anti-Hero: Boromir is a genuinely good man with the understandable motivation of wishing to save his people, but the Ring and his father's orders drive him to become what finally breaks a fracturing Fellowship.
• The Atoner: Horrified by how his actions have driven Frodo away, he makes a Last Stand against dozens of Uruk-Hai to defend Merry and Pippin, ultimately dying while protecting them.
• Badass Normal: Aside from being the son of the Steward, Boromir has no special bloodline or vague mysticism about him like Aragorn. He's a fairly normal man mixed in with a bunch of fantasy archetypes. That said, he's a great fighter and even a hail of arrows can't stop him ...at first.
• Big Brother Instinct: He's very quick to defend Faramir from their father's cruel detractions and shows his brother open affection whenever possible. Faramir's visible devastation at learning of his brother's death says a lot about their relationship. He also develops this for Merry and Pippin over the course of the first movie.
  Boromir: You give him no credit and yet he tries to do your will! He loves you, Father.
  Denethor: Do not trouble me with Faramir. I know his uses and they are few.
• The Big Guy: Shares this role with Gimli. He's not only a fierce fighter using a sword and shield, but he's also quite hammy.
• Boisterous Bruiser: In an Extended/deleted scene, we see him as the champion of Gondor, leading the army to victory and keeping his speech afterwards short so there's "more time for drinking." He's much less happy when he's around the Ring, or his father.
• Broken Ace: He was a proud, gallant warrior, but the pressure put on him by his father eroded his common sense, and he never thought Sauron could be beaten, which fed his obsession with the Ring.
• Cool Big Bro: Takes on this role for Merry and Pippin during their sword training. He's also first to defend them from the Uruk-hai, but gets killed in the process.
• The Corruptible: While he is the most susceptible of the Fellowship to the Ring's corruption due to being a mortal Man, he is good and honorable. In fact, it's even implied that the main reason the Ring got him in the first place was because he was too good and honorable. He wants to save his people and uphold his duty to them so much that the Ring used it to influence him. After succumbing to the Ring's influence, he becomes horrified enough that he atones for his actions by defending Merry and Pippin from the Uruk-hai to his death.
• The Determinator: You could pretty much rename this trope 'The Boromir' and it would still be accurate, such as when he takes multiple arrows to the chest and keeps fighting.
• Dying Moment of Awesome: No matter how many arrows are shot into him, he does not give up trying to save Merry and Pippin.
• Establishing Character Moment: Boromir instantly suggesting the Ring be turned over to Gondor to use against Sauron at the Council of Elrond. In this scene he clearly shows his pride, his mild audacity, and his genuine concern for protecting his people — and how unfortunately, the latter trait does not cancel out the former two so much as fuel them.
• Face Death with Dignity: When Lurtz is about to deliver the coup de grace, Boromir, while on his knees from three arrows in the chest, looks him dead in the eye as he waits for the Uruk to get it over with.
• Fallen Hero: He was a valiant warrior—his people's champion—trying to save his country but he couldn't resist the temptation of the Ring.
• Fantastic Racism: Coming from Gondor, who had to fend for themselves, he holds great disregard for both Elves and Dwarves while also considering Aragorn unworthy of leadership. He eventually comes around by the end of the first film.
• Foreshadowing:
  • Remember that brief moment where Aragorn sees that Boromir has left his shield behind when they first make bank at Rauros Falls? Probably would've been better if he had remembered.
  • Those two arrows he narrowly dodges right before the battle in Balin's tomb certainly herald things to come.
• Heroes Prefer Swords: Wields a sword, and shield,and he is a heroic defender of men and hobbits.
• Jerkass Has a Point: While his prickliness towards Aragorn, the Elves, and his lack of faith in the quest are his greatest flaws, Boromir's attitude is rooted in the fact that the Gondorians have been skirmishing with Mordor for centuries, while the Elves, Dwarves, and Rangers have apparently been sitting on the sidelines. His Vitriolic Best Buds relationship with Aragorn, while never openly hostile, is rooted in Boromir seeing the former as having sat out the conflict (and being hesitant to take his place in the world of Men) while Boromir's family and people have been struggling and dying for some time.
• Jerkass to One: Out of the whole Fellowship, the only one he treats somewhat hostile is Aragorn, due to being frustrated with the latter's lack of will to join and fight for his people.
• Killed Off for Real: The only Fellowship member to remain dead and never come back.
• The Lancer: To Aragorn, both being noble descendants of Gondor but with contrasting attitudes and views of their heritage. The fact that he's been a jerk to him in the first film doesn't help, either. His fighting style's also a bit clunkier compared to Aragorn's more elegant swordplay.
• Made of Iron: He is a normal man, no mystical powers to him. Yet during the fight with the cave-troll in Moria, he and Aragorn grab its chain to force it away from Sam. However, the troll soon realizes this, yanks its own chain while Boromir is still holding onto it, and whips him into the opposite wall. This is an action that would've killed most men or at least broken a few bones, yet Boromir is only disoriented by the blow and the most danger he's in is not being able to react in time to an opportunistic orc that Aragorn has to save him via Throwing Your Sword Always Works.
• Manly Tears: As he dies, no less. He sheds some earlier after realizing he has tried to seize the Ring from Frodo.
• Master Swordsman: He's not as elegant as Aragorn, being more forceful and brutish, but he's not far behind in skill. Years of defending Gondor's borders no doubt contributed.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Says it almost word for word after realizing that he tried taking the Ring from Frodo by force.
• Nice Guy:
  • While he's rather prickly towards Aragorn, he's far more supportive of the Hobbits' inclusion in the party, while everyone else (including Aragorn) seems to considers them The Load at first. Not only does he teach Merry and Pippin how to fight, but in the aftermath of Moria and Gandalf's death, he has this to say when Aragorn pushes the devastated Fellowship to keep moving:
    Boromir: Give them a moment, for pity's sake!
  • He's also the only member of the Fellowship to directly try to comfort Frodo after Gandalf's death.
    Boromir: Gandalf's death was not in vain...
  • Subtle, but he's also the only member to comfort Gimli in Moria. He puts his hand on Gimli's shoulder as he mourns his cousin, and is seen visibly restraining an upset Gimli once they make it outside.
  • He's also shown to have a very good relationship with his younger brother, who is routinely dismissed or outright ridiculed by their father. When Denethor describes Faramir as being useless, Boromir is visibly angered and doesn't hesitate to come to his brother's defense. He's quite willing to hug and display open affection to Faramir as well.
  • While passing through Caradhras, Boromir implores Gandalf to turn around because the freezing cold and heavy winds will be the death of the Hobbits. Granted, this was so they would pass through the Gap of Rohan, and therefore be closer to Gondor, but hey—points for trying.
  • Even when visibly dying from his wounds, the first thing he does is beseech Aragorn to save Merry and Pippin, whom he'd grown very fond of. In fact, it's even implied that the only reason he was still fighting, despite already being riddled with arrows, was to keep them safe.
    Boromir: They took the little ones!
• Not Himself: As Frodo points out during their confrontation, Boromir is visibly obsessed with stealing the Ring in order to bring it back to Gondor and use it as a weapon. He even curses the Hobbits when he was all but nice to them the whole journey up until that point. Needless to say, Boromir is remorseful when Frodo escapes with the Ring.
• One-Man Army: He takes on dozens of Uruk-hai and carves through them with only minimal outside help from Merry and Pippin. Were it not for Lurtz and his arrows, he might have even won, or at least successfully held out until Aragorn and the others arrived.
• Parental Favoritism: He's clearly Denethor's favorite, but Boromir absolutely hates being the favorite and his father's tendency to act dismissive of and find fault in everything Faramir does.
• Posthumous Character: Even though he dies early on, his background and character is explored by the other characters. It also has a major influence on the plot, with both Denethor and Faramir being strongly affected by Boromir's death.
• Redemption Equals Death: After trying to take the One Ring (under the Ring's influence, no less), he dies defending Merry and Pippin from the Uruk-hai.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The Red to Aragorn and Faramir's Blue, being more of a glorified warrior whose goal is to protect his people. His Two Blue Onis, while sharing his desire to protect Gondor, are more reserved about it and are smart enough to know the Ring cannot be used against the Enemy.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something / Warrior Prince: While the son of the Steward, Boromir is one of Middle-earth's fiercest fighters, which is why his father favors him over Faramir. He firmly believes that it's his duty to protect and save Gondor from the continued expansion of Mordor's influence.
• Sanity Slippage: Happens gradually as his desire for the Ring slowly drives him mad until he finally snaps and attacks Frodo. He gets better though, for a short time.
• Sensitive Guy and Manly Man:
  • Interestingly, while Boromir may seem to be the manly man to Aragorn's sensitive guy due to his physical size and martial skill, he's actually the more sensitive of the two. He very quickly displays a Big Brother Instinct not only for Faramir but towards Merry and Pippin as well, and attempts to comfort Gimli in Moria and Frodo in Lorien after Gandalf's death. He also advocates for the group to have a moment to mourn. Notably, his doubts and sensitivities make him a prime target for the One Ring, as it exploits his desire to protect his people. Also, after attempting to steal the One Ring, Boromir is immediately beside himself with grief and repentance.
  • On the other hand, he's definitely the manly man to Faramir's sensitive guy.
• Sibling Yin-Yang: He's the polar opposite of his brother Faramir, who is also a capable warrior, but more bookish and reserved. Boromir's status as a captain and the hero of Gondor places him as more of The Heart, whereas Faramir's skill as a ranger aligns him more as The Smart Guy.
• The Last Dance: He continues to slay more Uruk-hai to protect Merry and Pippin despite being shot at by Lurtz with two arrows already.
• This Is Gonna Suck:
  • Sean Bean's delivery of the line "They have a cave troll" in the movie is all over this trope, complete with an exasperated scowl.
  • In the Extended Edition of The Two Towers, he has this reaction upon learning that Denethor has come to congratulate them for retaking Osgiliath. The fact that Faramir is standing right there with him doesn't help matters, especially since Boromir is quite aware of his father's dismissive and cruel nature.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: When he comes across Frodo in the woods, his wish to have the Ring for himself corrupts him, therefore making him more aggressive towards the hobbit. He tries to steal the Ring off him by force, though fortunately, Frodo has the good sense to put it on, turn invisible, and escape. Once the Ring is away from him, Boromir quickly comes to his senses and feels remorse for his actions, all the way until his death.
• Tragic Hero: He dies at the end of the first film after the Ring influences him to take it for himself. Prior to this, he is shown obsessing over it since the meeting in Rivendell, and it is not at all helped by the fact that his father is the one who wants it in the first place. Moreover, it's not greed or lust for power that makes him desire the ring, but simply the need to protect his people.
• Tsundere: Type B, with most of the tsun going to Aragorn. He's a pretty nice guy otherwise. Sadly, it's only before his death that he warms up to Aragorn.
• Untouchable Until Tagged: He was on a rip-roaring, Uruk-slaying binge until a single arrow hits him, which was enough to get him mobbed and killed, although it took another couple of arrows to fully incapacitate him. Granted, he was probably coursing through on pure adrenaline, but also because he was single-handedly trying to protect Merry and Pippin and hold off an entire slew of Orcs while waiting for Aragorn and the others to arrive.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: With Aragorn, who he initially dismisses as just another Ranger with an empty claim to the throne of Gondor. While their relationship is never outright hostile, there is a sense of antipathy between the two. When Aragorn promises Boromir that he will not let the world of Men fall, it marks Aragorn's acceptance of his legacy and responsibilities, and that he has finally aligned himself with his race. It's the first time Aragorn refers to the Gondorians as his people. Boromir then fully accepts Aragorn into the community by acknowledging him as a his (Boromir's) captain and king.
  Aragorn: ...I swear to you, I will not let the white city fall, nor our people fail.
  Boromir: Our people? Our people. I would've followed you, my brother ... my captain ... my king.
• Weapon Twirling: He twirls his sword a few times while waiting for the goblin horde to break into Balin's Tomb in Moria.

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